By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
With Burn Ban season upon us, Tucker County Sheriff Jake Kopec related the potential civil liabilities residents face should they ignore the burn bans when in effect. The warning came during the Tucker County Commission’s regular meeting Wednesday, November 13th. “Please follow that burn ban, especially as we are getting into the hunting season and guys are getting out to deer camp and wanting to start up fires and do other things,” Kopec said. “Its there for a reason.”
Kopec said that regardless of the amount of rain, this time of year is rife with fuel for forest fire from dried leaves and crushed vegetation. “Some people see some rain and they think, well I can burn afterwards,” Kopec said. “The reason its in is there’s been a lot of dry leaves and crushed vegetation. During this time of the year, there’s wind. I’m not a fire fighter, but I just know these things create a lot of fuel in the forest.”
Kopec related a scenario of deer hunters leaving a small fire in camp unattended as a potential for a forest fire. “As we’re getting into the hunting season, a scenario comes to my mind, a lot of guys are going to deer camp. Maybe some of them are going out to the woods and they are hunting and starting a little fire trying to clean up around camp,” Kopec said. “Then go out and hunt, leaving that fire unattended.”
According to Kopec there are legal consequences should someone ignore the burn bans. “A fire can spread really fast,” Kopec said. “It can get out of control and there are consequences on our end as far as if you burn in a burn ban you can be cited,” Kopec said.
Kopec said the largest consequences come in the civil law courts. “The biggest thing is the civil, the potential for a civil suit against you,” Kopec said. “In other words if you start a fire and that fire takes off and burns your neighbor’s house down and their outbuildings, you could be civilly liable for that.”
If a fire destroys timber, the civil penalties are four times the value of the trees, Kopec said. “There are fines associated, but the civil liabilities are the biggest thing because a forest fire destroys timber. At the very least, it destroys timber. So when a tree gets destroyed, its four times replacement value in the court system,” Kopec said. “If you cut your neighbor’s tree down, you’re going to have to pay for four times what the value of that tree is to replace it is.”
There is a potential for injury to people in forest fires, Kopec said. “People could get really injured in forest fires if a house catches fire, a trailer catches fire,” Kopec said. “So just want to reiterate the importance of following that burn ban. Its there for a reason.”
Tucker County Director of Emergency Management and Parsons Fire Department Chief Kevin White said that Fire Departments are legally bound to report fires to law enforcement and sign agreements every year stating such. “Fire Departments are bound by law in the State of West Virginia to report it to law enforcement agencies,” White said. “If we come upon a fire that we come upon, we are bound by law. We sign an agreement with the West Virginia Department of Forestry every year that we have to report this.”
The Governor’s office has announced that as of Friday, November 15th, the current burn ban has expired. Standard fall burn season laws including fires only being allowed between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. with all fires required to be extinguished by 7 a.m. remain in effect. All fires must be attended at all times. Individuals caught violating regulations face citations and fines up to $1,000.
