EPA investigates open brush fire incident in Knox County

HARRISON TOWNSHIP — If you looked up at the sky Friday night, there’s a good chance you saw a cloud of black smoke hovering in eastern Knox County.

We received several questions about the open brush fire early Friday evening, Dec. 13. Readers asked about the fire’s origins in Harrison Township.

Residents also contacted the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. After the OEPA investigated, it turns out it was more than an open burn.

Eastern Knox County Joint Fire District responded to a potential structure fire. Fire Chief Larry Stimpert said the call was canceled, but the department later returned. Stimpert said it is unclear why the call was originally canceled.

“Units were canceled and advised this was a controlled burn,” according to the district’s incident report.

The incident report stated the brush fire was in an open field; firefighters were originally dispatched at 4:30 p.m.

According to the incident report, after 911 dispatch told district officials they received 40 calls about a large fire on Killduff Road, EKCJFD personnel arrived to investigate the complaints.

The brush pile was approximately 50×100 feet long in a snow-covered cut cornfield, according to the report.

The report also states that after contacting the property owner, fire district officials asked what was in the brush pile.

“Evidently, they (property owner) had cleared woods in the area,” Stimpert said. “It was a very large fire and advised the occupant owner of the burning rules and regulations.

“Due to the large fire and the resources it would take to extinguish the fire, it continued to burn because it represented no hazard to surrounding houses.”

Environmental Protection Agency referred

The landowner told the firefighters he contacted “the fire department” and “dispatch” and advised them he was going to be burning a brush pile,” according to the report.

The report also states that the landowner was advised of Environmental Protection Agency burning regulations and that a permit is required to burn a pile larger than 10×20 feet, and only land waste from the property is permitted.

According to Ohio EPA Public Information Officer Dina Pierce, OEPA received a complaint about open burning on Killduff Road near Gambier on Friday, Dec. 13. “When agency staff visited the site on Dec. 19, we found that roughly 50 scrap tires, brush, and wood had been burned. We are reviewing the inspection results to determine next steps.”

According to Ohio EPA regulations, burning tires and unpermitted open burning are illegal in Ohio. Also, according to EPA regulations provided by Pierce, citizens can burn brush or plant materials from their property only if they receive permission from the Ohio EPA.

Anyone with questions about open burning regulations should call the Division of Air Pollution Control at 614.644.2270. If you need to report illegal open burning, call Ohio EPA’s emergency hotline at 800.282.9378 or fill out a complaint form.