El Paso County renews burn ban an additional 90 days

El Paso County Commissioners Court approved to extend the county’s burn barn for 90 days after March 15.

A burn barn was put in place in April of 2011 in efforts to combat illegal burning that could be harmful to the community. That ban has been consistently renewed every 90 days since its inception.

“What were you seeing prior to 2011 is a lot of folks burning tires and trash unnecessarily,” County Judge Ruben J. Vogt said. “So we were wanted to try to curb that.”

The burn ban renewal will run through June 13, 2018.

Vogt said there is a legal procedure for burning that needs to happen.

“We were mindful of the fact that we had burning that did need to continue. For example, farmers and the work they do in trying to clear brush,” Vogt said. “There has been a burn permit that has been created by the Emergency Services district to allow for that burning to continue, but it puts measure in place to insure safe burning done during times when it doesn’t pose a hazard for other people.”

The burn barn was first put in place during a drought season in the western portion of the state.