At its meeting today, the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners instituted a county-wide burn ban, effective at 10AM on Friday, April 13th.
The ban was necessitated due to significant brush and woods fires that have occurred recently, and the wildfire potential is currently very high throughout Lancaster County due to the lack of recent rainfall and the unseasonably warm temperatures. The District Forester, on behalf of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the fire chiefs of many Lancaster County fire companies have also expressed concern that this fire potential poses a serious threat to life and property in Lancaster County.
Pursuant to the provisions of Act 1995-52 and Section 7501 of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Services Code ( 35 PA C.S.), as amended, the County Commissioners are given the authority establish bans on burning.
Open burning in Manheim Township is hereby defined as the ignition and subsequent burning of any combustible material ( garbage, leaves, grass, twigs, litter, paper, vegetative matter involved with land clearing or any other sort of debris) out-of-doors in either a burn barrel (screened or unscreened), fire ring, or on the ground. Exemption is given to fires for the exclusive purpose of food preparation.
Enforcement of this ban shall be the responsibility of any sworn police officer, in accordance with the provisions of Act 1995-52.
Penalty – a person who violates this resolution commits a summary offense and shall, upon conviction be sentenced to a fine of not more than $100.00 for the first offense, $200.00 for the second offense and $300.00 for the third and subsequent offenses.