Severe drought prompts outdoor burn bans in Southwest Ohio

Ohio’s open-burning ban has been expanded to a few counties in southwest Ohio.

Greene, Clark and Champaign counties are now under an Extreme Drought designation. That means that those counties are now under the State Fire Marshal’s open burn ban.

Harrison Township’s fire chief has also declared an open burn ban in the Township until further notice. And the Preble County Chiefs Association says all fire chiefs have agreed to a countywide outdoor burn ban.

The ban means no outdoor fires, open flames, fireworks, spark-causing devices, and non-electric cooking. Discarding lit cigarettes outdoors is also prohibited.

“Please think before you do something involving any kind of an open flame,”
State Fire Marshal Kevin Reardon said. “And this applies to all over the state really. We are in drought conditions that I’ve been told are the worst in 22 years statewide. So the ground conditions are very, very dry and very susceptible to ignition from a very simple source such as an open flame.”

Areas that are not in the open-burn ban are also very dry and wildfires are a danger over most of Ohio.

The outdoor burning ban will remain in place until further notice, and may be expanded to other counties in the near future.