Aiken County leaders approve a temporary ban on burning after pleas from local firefighters

AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) – A week after the Belvedere Fire Department requested a burn ban, the Aiken County Council held an emergency meeting on the burn ban Monday evening.

The council decided to approve the temporary burning ban, but only for the next two weeks.

The two-week limit is from November 4 to November 19 and that’s because that’s the next council meeting. They say they will re-examine the ban to see if it is necessary to continue it.

They also said that if there is heavy rain in the coming days, they may call another emergency meeting and decide to end it sooner.

This comes after a desperate plea from local firefighters, asking you to stop burning your rubble.

There are tons and tons of debris in almost every neighborhood, and October was very dry.

“We have had no protection since October 7,” said Chad Hyler, chief of the Belvedere Fire Department.

To assist with cleanup efforts and support those involved in Hurricane Helene, Minnesota and Dakota...

They try to help and warn as many people as possible.

“The calls we’re getting and the messages we’re getting on social media are people who are, quite frankly, afraid to go to sleep at night because people are burning 24 hours a day,” he said.

It’s been more than a month since Hurricane Helene hit and there is still debris lining the roads.

While people wait for it to be cleaned up, some are taking matters into their own hands

“We already have almost $50,000 worth of registered property burned due to illegal burns, barns being burned, tractor trailers, various properties owned by others burned, not whether they intended to or not, but just dry for us and they think us out, and then it’ll flare up again, you know, another day or two,” Hyler said.

It can get dangerous quickly, but there’s only so much they can do, especially when people claim they have a permit.

“There’s only so much we can do,” he said. “We can’t forcibly go in and put out someone’s fire. They tell us they have a burning permit. We can’t know whether they do or not, so we have to trust that they do.

Camp Tanglewood sees damage from Hurricane Helene

That’s why they asked officials for help.

“We need law enforcement, you know, support when people are doing this stuff illegally,” Hyler said.

Over the weekend, fire officials announced there would be a meeting to discuss the request on Monday at 5 p.m., followed by a full meeting at 5:15 p.m.

Weeks after Hurricane Helene, we still haven’t seen a substantial amount of rain.

With piles of rubble scattered across the CSRA, they are likely to become fire starters.

“We need law enforcement when people are doing this illegally, but to date we have received no assistance with these calls, besides requesting an emergency burn ban through the county council,” Hyler said.

Hyler adds that they have no way of knowing if someone has a legal ban on burning debris in their home, which contributes to the number of uncontrolled fires that could lead to even more destruction.