Captain Cindy Gries, Public
Information Officer
German Township Volunteer Fire Department
8400 St. Wendel Road, Evansville, Indiana 47720
Phone: 812-963-9077 Fax: 812-963-5622
web site: www.germanfiredept.org
e-mail: germanpio.cindygries@yahoo.com
PRESS RELEASE
Date: 11-10-06 From: Captain Cindy Gries, PIO
German Township Volunteer Fire Department
INFORMATION REGARDING OPEN BURNING
IN VANDERBURGH COUNTY
FROM THE GERMAN TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPARTMENT
Every year, German Township Fire Department is dispatched to homeowners burning
leaves. It is against the law in the State of Indiana to burn leaves or trash.
The Evansville Environmental Protection Agency (EEPA) has jurisdiction within
the city limits and up to four (4) miles beyond the city limits. The area
outside four miles is regulated by the Indiana Department of Environmental
Management (IDEM).
It is important to know that the smoke from burning five pounds of leaves
contains about one pound of air pollution. Burning one weeks’ worth of trash
from a single home in an open barrel can put as much as of some toxic chemicals
in the air as a well-controlled municipal incinerator burning the trash from
thousands of homes.
A fire must be extinguished if it creates a hazard, nuisance, pollution problem
or threat to public health. It’s The Law.
Fires in a fire ring, patio fire pit or BBQ grill are allowed, but the only
materials that are allowed to be burned are clean wood, charcoal, etc. (no
painted, stained or treated wood, no paper, no cardboard, no leaves and no
trash). The EEPA must approve any fire other than these types of fires. For
large amounts of wood outside the city limits, open burning is permitted only
with an Open Burn Variance Permit from the EEPA.
The Evansville Environmental Protection Agency can be contacted for any
questions at 812-435-6145. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management
can be contacted for any questions at 888-672-8323.
This Site was last
updated:
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 10:30 PM
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