The Saline County Commission  has lifted the county-wide burn ban, which was put into effect on March 5th.

While the precipitation that most of the state received is welcomed; fire dangers still remain.  The precipitation received will not break the drought conditions.  When the sun and wind return, the fire danger will be as high as before.  The only difference now is the ground is wet creating a higher risk for fire trucks to get stuck. Saline County Rural Fire and Emergency Management urges residents to use caution when performing outdoor burns.

As a reminder, residents living in the unincorporated areas of the county must obtain a burn permit to burn items such as pasture, burn barrels, brush piles, waterways, etc.  They can visit the Saline County website www.saline.org and follow the link to “Burn Permits” to apply online.

Conditions of the open burning regulations are as follows:

• Wind speeds must be 15mph or below to allow for a burn to be authorized.
• Residents conducting the burns must call no more than1 hour before the start of their burn so the information about the burn can be recorded.
• Open burns can only be conducted between the hours of sunrise and sunset; unless special permission has been obtained to burn during the night.
• The person conducting the burn shall insure that the burning is supervised at all times.
• For field burning, there must be a fire guard (cleared strip) completely encircling the area to be burned.

For more information on open burning regulations or questions, please contact the Emergency Management office at 785-826-6511.