This year, because the heavy snows caused so many trees to fall or lose truck loads of branches, property owners have been lighting brush fires with alarming frequency, said Munson Township Assistant Fire Chief Brian Gray.
This year, because the heavy snows caused so many trees to fall or lose truck loads of branches, property owners have been lighting brush fires with alarming frequency, said Munson Township Assistant Fire Chief Brian Gray.
When March came along with minimal rainfall and brisk winds, the stage was set for grass fires, keeping many fire departments hopping over the last few weeks, he said.
Some fires, including those that did not get out of control, may have been illegal, Gray said.
“A lot of people don’t understand the burning regulations. They think, ‘We live in the country — we can burn natural materials,’” he said in a phone interview March 26. “All they want to do is get rid of the mess.”
Those regulations, set by the Ohio Department of Forestry, include an open burning ban from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in March, April, May, October and November, according to the ODF website. That includes burning last week’s junk mail in a standard burn barrel.
In Munson, residents looking to dispose of the winter’s debris must request a burn permit and limit the size of the pile of brush to a size no more than 5 feet wide, 5 feet long and 5 feet high, as well as take normal precautions, such as having a water hose hand, controlling the blaze with gardening tools and never leaving it unattended, Gray said.
Despite popular myth, having a package of hot dogs or bag of marshmallows handy will not serve as an excuse for an illegal fire if the chief comes to investigate, he said.
Gray told township trustees at their meeting March 23 the department bucket truck was needed to extinguish a large fire on Ravenna Road recently.
Slabs, left over after a 40-acre woodlot was lumbered out, were set on fire, he said.
The blaze created a lot of smoke that drifted across the road to University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center before fire departments arrived and spent hours putting it out, Gray said.
It was not an isolated incident.
“Every fire department from (Munson Township) east has been out multiple times a day for brush fires,” he told trustees, noting a combination of wind and dry grass can set a brush fire out of control very quickly. “It’s time for everybody to be real careful.”
During the meeting, Trustee Jim McCaskey said despite the demands emergency medical technicians faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, several department members continued their professional training.
Gray said firefighters/EMTs Nick Kuntz, John Hendersen and Tom Pettry put in the 240 hours of training needed to become paramedics.
“It’s the top level you can achieve,” Gray said over the phone.
Usually, members who are working toward their paramedic certification spend a year gaining clinical experience in addition to the class work, but hands-on experience was severely limited during the pandemic, he said.
“It was really, really difficult for them to hone their medical skills,” he said, adding they came up with creative ways to keep their skill sharp during the pandemic.
Most of the department’s 28 members are highly certified for medical care, said Gray, who has been full time with the fire department for eight years and was promoted to assistant chief along with his shift captain title.
He credited the department employees with gathering up and displaying a lot of the historical items he and others have been saving over the years, decorating the fire station that was renovated over the last year.
