BROOKINGS — Recent rains have left the area well-soaked, but the Brookings County Commission was looking ahead to a time when that might not be the case in approving an ordinance on Tuesday morning that would make it easier to implement a burn ban.

The new rules, formally known as Ordinance #24-04, essentially enact an automatic burn ban in the county via its Office of Emergency Management whenever appropriate weather conditions present themselves. These conditions are:

• When the National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning in the county.
• When the Grassland Fire Danger Rating in the county reaches “very high” or “extreme.”

“This does not change the nuisance ordinance,” Emergency Management Director Bob Hill told commissioners. “We will still have the nuisance ordinance in place for long-term dry spells and things like that where the county commission can do a burn ban. This is strictly in case of a red flag-type warning put out that can be documented.”

The ordinance spurred some back-and-forth discussion leading up to the 5-0 vote to approve it, including from Commissioner Ryan Krogman.

“So this puts the call into your office, right? Your Office of Emergency Management would make that call on when this happens, right?” he asked.

“Yes. I would contact the 911 center, and we’d put it out over social media and the county websites and everything,” Hill replied.

“And then would you also have the authority to take it off?” Krogman asked.

“Once the red flag warning expired, then this would expire automatically,” Hill said. “So, yes, we would announce that also.”

“You also mentioned that we have, as a commission, have the ability to put a burn ban on for an extended period of time if it’s dry weather and dry things, even though it’s not an emergency?” Krogman asked.

“Yes, that is correct,” Hill said.

Commissioner Larry Jensen joined the discussion, wondering about the role of dispatch.

“You would still encourage people that, at any time if they’re going to burn, to notify dispatch?” he inquired.

“Yes. In the actual nuisance ordinance it recommends that anytime you burn out in the county, just go ahead and call the non-emergency line at 605-692-2113,” Hill said. “Let dispatch know you’re burning so that they can notify the local fire department in case it gets out of control — they’d at least have some warning ahead of time.”

In his remarks, Commissioner Kelly VanderWal had nothing but praise for residents in the county when it comes to burning materials.

“Most of this, of course, is just common sense, and I feel like our Brookings County citizens have done a pretty good job here in the last couple years about not burning when it’s going to be really windy,” he noted. “As a volunteer fireman, I do appreciate when anybody calls a burn in, so that way emergency services doesn’t fly out of town to attend something that’s under control.”

He continued, “Again, I think this is common sense and I want to thank Brookings County citizens for doing what they do.”

In other matters on Tuesday, commissioners:

• Approved, on a 5-0 vote, a 45 mph speed limit on 214th Street, also known as county Road 216A, from its intersection with 34th Avenue east to the west city limits of Aurora. That stretch of road is approximately 2.5 miles long. The rule is formally known as Ordinance 2024-03.
• Approved, on a voice vote, closing a portion of Broadway Avenue in Aurora for the town’s upcoming Gala Days in August.

— Contact Mondell Keck at mkeck@brookingsregister.com.