Earlier this week, we reported on a burning ban enacted for Lane County. Since then, the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency’s (LRAPA) board of directors has eased up on it a little.
Now county residents are encouraged to voluntarily stop outdoor burning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vice chairwoman Kathy Holston acknowledged rural landowners’ desire to clear and burn vegetation ahead of the drier, warmer months. Some asserted to the board that burning debris now alleviates wildfire risks later on.
In a release, LRAPA encouraged alternatives to burning. Vegetation can be put into a compost pile, yard debris can be taken to a recycling station, and old lumber can be salvaged and reused.
LRAPA maintains that smoke can agitate people with COVID-19, or cause symptoms that might be mistaken for the potentially fatal ailment.
Copyright 2020, KLCC.
