The entire state of Maryland is under an open-air burning ban, effective Friday, November 1, because of drier-than-normal conditions that have persisted for the past several weeks and elevated the risk for an out-of-control wildfire.
That ban, which applies and will be enforced in the Town of Bel Air, means people cannot do things such as start a bonfire in a backyard fire pit or grill outdoors over charcoal. Cooking on a propane gas-powered grill is permitted under state law, though.
“This burning ban does affect our town residents,” Town Administrator Edward Hopkins said during a meeting of the Bel Air Town Commissioners on Monday, November 4.
“Even though our Bel Air town code allows for supervised fires, such as fire pits and so forth, Maryland state law will supersede our town code,” he continued.
The Bel Air Police Department will be charged with enforcing the ban within the Town, according to Hopkins.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is implementing the ban, which will be in effect until the Maryland Forest Service finds that enough precipitation has fallen in the state, such that the threat of wildfires has been reduced.
Under state law, open-air burning applies to the process of burning material outside or in “a receptacle other than a furnace, incinerator or other equipment connected to a stack or chimney,” according to a DNR web page on the burn ban.
A backyard fire pit is covered under the open-air burn ban, said Hopkins, who noted that most fire pits are contained structures. He stressed, however, the risk of a spark getting away from a bonfire and landing in a dry area.
“We have a lot of trees, brush, [in Bel Air]; a lot of our developments will back up to wooded areas,” Hopkins said. “Most people don’t understand the distance that a spark can travel and . . . as dry as it is, it could potentially set something on fire.”
There are many cases in which a spark does not start a fire immediately, but it can land in a mulch pile and spend days smoldering. Then, there is a risk of the smoldering spark working its way under a residence and potentially causing a fire in that structure, according to Hopkins, a former Bel Air fire chief who is still active in the Town’s volunteer fire company.
He also urged residents to keep the burn ban in mind as they put leaves out for bulk collection by the Department of Public Works.
“We just want people to be really cognizant and smart,” said Hopkins.
Mayor Paula Etting echoed the Town Administrator’s warnings about the burn ban.
“It’s best to be safe, certainly with all the dry leaves that we have around town, sitting in piles,” she said, noting that it would be “terrible” if a fire started.
Contact Media and Public Relations Specialist David Anderson at 410-838-7181 or danderson@belairmd.org.