SCHWENKSVILLE PA – For safety reasons, Lower Frederick Township is among the latest of Pennsylvania municipalities to ban open burning within its borders. It intends to prevent the threat of uncontrolled fires, given rising temperatures and a lack of rainfall.
The township publicly reported the ban in a Monday (July 8, 2024) e-mail notice, and earlier on its Facebook page.
By order of Fire Marshal Tom Gamon IV, it “instituted a ban on open burning” as of June 26 at 11 a.m., under what the e-mail describes as “continuing dry conditions.” The township, the e-mail adds, also immediately invalidated any current or existing burn permits as part of the ban.
Looking into the code
Township code defines open burning as “any fire wherein air contaminants, including smoke and/or odor, are emitted to the open air and are not directed thereto through a flue.” Open burning “is prohibited in Lower Frederick Township,” as stated in code Chapter 50-5.
However, the code specifies nine different “exceptions” in which some open burning is permissible. “Cooking food upon a grill with a properly fitting lid” is among them. It was not immediately clear Tuesday (July 9), in interviews with township officials, if the ban applies to some, all, or none of the exceptions.
That question, and provisions of the open burning chapter, are likely be future topics explored by Lower Frederick’s Board of Supervisors, township Manager Jason Wager says.
No date is set for ending the open burning ban. That depends on a change in the weather or, at the least, enough rain to alleviate the dry conditions.
When the ban is lifted, however, the township pledges to post that information on its Facebook page and its website. The e-mail notes that new burn permits, obtainable from the township municipal building at 53 Spring Mount Rd., will then be required.
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