The 30 day county-wide burn ban lapses after Saturday August 14, 2010. The ban was

put in place by the Schuylkill County Commissioners on July 16, 2010 on the

recommendation of District Forester, Mark Deibler of Pennsylvania Department of

Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry. The extremely dry conditions

and high temperature experienced in July have improved somewhat during early August.

Though the burn ban is lifted as of Sunday August 15, the public is asked to remain

vigilant when conducting any type of burning.

In reviewing the pre-burn ban incidents, the Schuylkill County 911 Center had 29

reported wild land and brush fires in the 30 days prior to the ban; since the ban was

enacted there have been only 7 such fire reports. These reduced numbers are significant

and directly attributable to the burn ban. Most brush and wild land fires are caused by

carelessness; burning in unfavorable conditions, not attending to the fire from beginning

to end, burning too much material at a single time, not properly extinguishing the fire

remains and burning in areas that have not been cleared of vegetation.

Though conditions have improved, the area is still experiencing below average rainfall.

The Bureau of Forestry will continue to monitor the conditions and the incidents of wild

land fires in the coming weeks and months. If there is a sharp rise in wild land fires or

the area become very dry again, the District Forester may request another ban. When a

ban is put into place, the intent is to protect property and lives, forest and valuable

watershed areas and give relief to our firefighters from both the volunteer organizations

and the state agencies.

Schuylkill County had issued a 30 day County wide burn ban as of Friday July 16, 2010.