Burn Ban is Over!
Fire Season is now
over and with it the burn ban is over as also over. Open burning is now
permitted within the rules you will find appended to this newsletter. Special
things to watch are wind strength nd direction, the materials you are burning,
and proximity to structures or other flammable materials (fences, vehicles, and
so forth). Remember also that you must
get approval of your burning site, even if you are using a burn barrel. Burn
barrel inspections are done once per year. Burn piles must be checked each time
they are used, although if the site has been inspected you may be allowed to
burn there without waiting for an inspection.
After obtaining permission to use a barrel or an approved site, you MUST call the burn line (503-755-0121) to be sure that it is burn day. It is illegal to burn on a No-Burn day. If it is a burn day please leave your name, address, phone number, a brief description of what you are burning, and when you intend to burn. Call this line for burn-day information every time you burn.
Incorrect Fire Insurance Ratings
It has come to my attention the several fire insurance
carriers are using the wrong rating information when rating the homes within 5
miles of our Main Station. Apparently the Insurance Services Office (ISO) has
listed the properties incorrectly as class 10, or unprotected. The correct
current rating is 8B, which cuts the cost in half. To date there have been 5 instances of this
error over the past year. So far the instances have occurred on Deep Creek
Road, on Fishhawk Road, and on Nehalem Highway North (Hwy 47) north of the
Battle Creek Bridge. If your property is within 5 road miles of the Main
Station at 12525 Highway 202 you might want to check with your insurance company
to be sure you are getting the correct rating.
Fire District Trivia
Did you know that your fire district is more than 50 years
old? It was formed in 1956, collected taxes for one year and then languished
for lack of interest. Renewed interest in a fire district began to surface in
1975 which culminated in the official resumption of services in 1979. Norman
Mueller became the first operational Fire Chief. In 1980, when I joined, the
district had only seven volunteers.