Gees, Be Careful If You Are Burning Brush

Spring and it is time to gather up all those twigs, branches, dry grass…whatever for you burn pile.  But even with the rain and snow, there is a lot of dry grass from the winter so if you are burning please be very careful.  If you are going to burn your brush pile here are a few things to remember from WABI:

1. Get a burn permit. You can get that information and permit online at maineburnpermit.com.  You can also check with your city or town about burn permits if you like. The permits just let all those who should know this is happening…just in case. There are also times and conditions you should NOT be burning.
2. Keep your pile of stuff to burn at least 10 feet away from your actual burn pile so sparks do not jump from the fire to the rest of your burn pile.  Don’t just make a big pile and light it up.  Make a smaller fire and to it as it burns down.  Keep it in control.
3. Have a water hose handy to douse any stray sparks, keep it in control and put it out when you are done.
4. Make sure the fire is out before you leave the site unattended.  I mean out…100%.

You may not think of wildfires as a Maine thing but they are. So far this spring there have been 278 wildfires in Maine. Last year there was 356 total.  Let’s just be careful and safe.  There is no reason to create any extra problems right now.