By John Estridge
Franklin County Commissioners unanimously approved a burn ban for Franklin County at their meeting Tuesday morning, September 22.
Commissioners Tom Linkel and Gerald Wendel are both farmers and said it would be nice to get some rain at this point, especially for the crops to help in their development.
On the state’s drought map, (drought.gov) Franklin County is not considered part of the drought area except for the extreme northwest portion of the county. Fayette, Rush and Union counties are considered in the drought area.
With the burn ban, there can be no open burning including campfires, unless enclosed in a fire ring. Grilling with charcoal or propane is allowed. Burn barrels are also allowed except it is limited to between dawn and dusk, only.
Linkel, the commission president, said the county’s fire chiefs contacted him and asked the commissioners to pass the burn ban.