Jefferson County - East-West Gateway Coordinating Council

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Jefferson County – Section 2
During March and April 2000 Missouri sustained devastating fire damage to thousands of
acres resulting from wildland fires. Warm temperatures and low humidity increased the
occurrence and fueled the flames scorching many areas of the state. In an attempt to raise
the public’s awareness of the hazardous situations, Governor Mel Carnahan and State Fire
Marshal Bill Farr issued a statewide voluntary burn ban, urging citizens to refrain from
conducting any open burning. In addition, the Missouri Department of Conservation and
U.S. Forestry Service issued burn bans throughout state and federally owned land.
TABLE J52 REASONS FOR FIRES IN MISSOURI
Lightning >1%
Camping 1%
Smoking 4%
Debris Burning 58%
Arson 20%
Equipment Use 3%
Railroads 1%
Children 1%
Miscellaneous Causes 12%
The Missouri Division of Fire Safety is urging fire service agencies and local governments to
begin planning for this situation by adopting a local ordinance to prohibit open burning
during a high fire hazard time period. Missouri statutes do not allow the state to issue a
MANDATORY burn ban at the state level.
One responsibility of the Forestry Division is protecting state and private land from the
destructive effects of wildfires. The Forestry Division works closely with rural fire
departments to assist with fire suppression activities. Nearly 900 rural fire departments
have mutual aide agreements with the division. Forestry personnel provide training,
equipment and grants to rural fire departments to help them become a more effective firefighting
team.
Statutory authority is given to fire protection districts via RSMo 321.220 (12) to "adopt and
amend bylaws, fire protection and fire prevention ordinances, …". However, coordination
with the county prosecuting attorney’s office is strongly recommended before
implementing such an ordinance to ensure enforcement ability. Voluntary fire service
associations should also coordinate similar efforts at the local level to adopt open burning
laws.
Not only is the land affected, but also personnel throughout many fire service agencies are
pushed to their limit battling these types of fires. These situations place Missouri citizens
and responding fire fighters at risk.