Pike under burn ban until Sept. 30

Pike County and 53 other Georgia counties are under the state’s outdoor summer burn ban until Sept. 30.

“When particulate matter from vehicles and smoke gets trapped in hot air, it contributes to higher ozone levels, and that’s been linked to lung and heart disease in humans,” said James Boylan of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.

To help diminish air issues surrounding ozone pollutants, the EPD has instituted an outdoor burn ban in Georgia every summer since 2005. While campfires, cooking fires and some agriculture burns are permitted, 54 mostly north and central Georgia counties do not allow yard and land debris clearing burns from May 1 to September 30. For complete details, go to epd.georgia.gov/air-protection-branch/open-burning-rules-georgia.

Georgia law classifies outdoor burning in several categories. The five safety precautions now mandated by law include set spacing between fires and woodlands and structures, burn times from sunrise to sunset, burner attendance at the fire and reasonable precautions such as weather awareness and suppression tools. Full details including video resources can be found at gatrees.org/burn-permits-and-notifications/.

Georgia’s outdoor summer burn ban is in effect May 1 through September 30 in Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Columbia, Coweta, Crawford, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Fulton, Gordon, Gwinnett, Hall, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Lumpkin, Madison, Meriwether, Monroe, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Paulding, Peach, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Putnam, Richmond, Rockdale, Spalding, Troup, Twiggs, Upson, Walker and Walton counties.