Aiken County burn ban still in effect due to debris-related fires
AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Aiken County continues to go back and forth on a burn ban.
Late last month, Belvedere firefighters called on the Aiken County Council to enact an emergency burn ban after a weeks-long drought and debris piles stacked high.
The council agreed, and last week, they implemented a county-wide burn ban that was supposed to be in effect until November 19.
But over the weekend, emails and Facebook posts saying otherwise caused some confusion.
It’s now still in effect, but we explain why some firefighters say it’s still needed.
Belvedere firefighters received nearly 60 calls in October — all from debris-related fires.
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That’s why Chief Chad Hyler asked the Aiken County Council for the emergency burn ban.
“We have neighbors who don’t want to go to sleep at night because they’re worried about people burning 24 hours a day,” said Hyler.
Aiken County Department of Emergency Management and the Aiken County government shared a Facebook post over the weekend saying the ban was lifted even though the council had not voted on it.
Gary Bunker is the Aiken County council chairman, and he says there was confusion among senior management.
Hyler and the Forestry Commission say bans are implemented based on rain, wind and other weather conditions.
“Now, we’ve got all this rain, people are wanting to burn. Some are still scared of it because stuff does dry out,” said Hyler.
But Hyler says rain, or lack of rain, isn’t necessarily their main problem.
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Their main issue is not being able to access resources.
He also says for many of them, this isn’t their only job.
“Most folks are working eight to five shift jobs. Without having those volunteers, we wouldn’t be able to do it,” said Hyler.
Bunker says he wasn’t aware of the Facebook posts saying the ban was lifted.
After we spoke with him and the EMS director, the post on Facebook was deleted.
Belvedere isn’t the only fire station battling this issue.
Wagener Fire Chief Tillman Rushton said: “Was riding down the road and just saw a bunch of smoke behind the house, and then when speaking to the homeowner, he let us know that he was cleaning up storm debris and burning it, and when he came back home today his whole backyard was back on fire.”
Hyler says some streets are still hard for them to get to because of the debris.
They’ve also seen nearly $50,000 worth of property damage since October, which is why he wants to make sure you know the ban is still in place.
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