Burning ban tightens up

Story:

Sechelt council is toughening up its burning bylaws.

Councillors gave staff some direction on amending the open air burning bylaw at their April 27 committee of the whole meeting. After some discussion, it was decided that the bylaw should continue with the current complete ban of open backyard burning, but be amended to include a ban on burning for land clearing purposes as well. The bylaw would, however, continue to allow campfires.

Coun. Ann Kershaw did not agree with the decision to ban land-clearing burns after reviewing a letter from Sechelt fire Chief Bill Higgs.

Higgs noted in his letter that residents feel there is currently no other reasonable way to handle yard waste and that leaving branches and other yard debris lying around results in an "unacceptable fire risk."

He suggested that the bylaw be amended to allow a very short time frame for people to burn their yard waste, in October each year.

A letter and delegation from the Clean Air Society urged council to look at a complete burning ban as the resulting smoke can be very dangerous for people with breathing issues.

Coun. Alice Lutes agreed with that point of view, saying she is an asthmatic and has had severe attacks. At one time she spent 11 days in a coma on life support due to an attack. She noted debris can be chipped and composted instead of burned.

The majority of council was on board with a complete burning ban, opting for more education for the public on other options to get rid of yard waste. When the question was called, all but Kershaw supported the burning bylaw amendment to ban burning for land-clearing purposes.

Council then asked staff to bring forward a plan of action to deal with waste and debris that could be a fire hazard, including ways to educate the public and possible incentives to make proper disposal more appealing.

"When we do these bans, I think we need to help people change their habits," Mayor Darren Inkster said.