Five
things you need to know about open burning laws, according to the
state Department of Environmental Conservation reports on regulations.
1. Burning trash is now prohibited statewide in all cases.
Existing incinerator rules already prohibited burning household trash
in wood stoves, fireplaces and outdoor wood boilers.
2. All open burning is prohibited in New York state with several
exceptions including:
Campfires less than three feet in height and four feet in length,
width or diameter.
Small cooking fires are allowed.
Fires cannot be left unattended and must be fully extinguished.
Only charcoal or clean, dry, untreated or unpainted wood can
be burned.
Ceremonial or celebratory bonfires are allowed. In
towns with a population less than 20,000, you may burn tree limbs
with attached leaves. The limbs must be less than six inches in diameter
and eight feet in length.
3. Burning leaves is banned in New York
state. The DEC encourages residents
to compost leaves.
4. Organic agricultural waste may be burned on-site where
they are grown or generated including brush and wood produced
by clearing fields and other activities. The fire must be located
on contiguous agricultural land larger than five acres, and the materials
capable of being fully burned within 24 hours. The burning of pesticides,
plastics or other non-organic material is prohibited.
5. Allowable occasions for open burning include: To
control invasive plant and insect populations (case-by-case DEC approval
is not required). Also to control plant and animal disease outbreaks,
upon request by the Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets.
Liquid petroleum fueled smudge pots to prevent frost damage to crops
(But burning tires and other waste materials for smudge is not allowed).
Prescribed burns, the burning of forest land to achieve a vegetative
or wildlife management goal, can be performed but only in accordance
with DEC regulations. Check with your regional DEC office.
IF YOU DIDN'T CHANGE THE BATTERY IN YOUR SMOKE
DETECTOR LAST WEEK, DO IT NOW!
Heating
Season is Getting Closer By the Day Time to: Clean Your Chimney Have Your Furnace Checked Change the Battery in Your Smoke
Detector
Test Your CO Detector (and yes, you have to have one!)
Our Station
- Built in 1965
Left to Right: 1741 Engine/Rescue, 1721 Tanker, 1701 Engine
IF
YOU CAN:
Push a Broom
Flip Chicken on Bar-B-Q Pit
Make Coffee (Good or Bad)
Check the Oil in a Truck
Mop or Sweep a Floor
Serve Cold Water to Hot People
Serve Hot Drinks to Cold People
Keep a Checkbook
Drive a Truck
Wash Dishes
Or Many, Many Other Small Tasks.... WE CAN USE YOUR HELP!!
**IMPORTANT MESSAGE
ABOUT INTERNET PHONE SERVICE **
Speedsville Fire
Co. reminds you that if you are a Tompkins County Resident and
have phone service other than the traditional land line, you need to
check with your phone service provider to make sure that any 911 calls
made from your phone will be directed to the Tompkins County 911 Communications
Center. There have been several incidents locally when Internet and
cable service 911 calls were directed to another county's 911 Center
and precious emergency response time was lost in redirecting the call
to the correct 911 Center. If your phone service is bundled with Internet
service (VoiceOverInternetProtocol) through Time Warner, DirecTV, Vonage,
etc., check with them to make sure that your provider has set up to
have your 911 calls to go to Tompkins County. When correctly set up,
your 911 phone calls will allow Tompkins Cty. Dispatchers to promptly
send emergency crews. You should also be aware that most 'VOIP'
providers do not share your name, telephone number or address with the
County's 911 Center. Further, if there is a power outage
in your area, you may not be able to call at all. If you have
any further questions about 911 calls and emergency fire and medical
services for Tompkins County, you may contact the Tompkins County Department
of Emergency Response at 607-257-3888.
If you reside in another county (Tioga, Broome, Etc.) ,Contact your
local fire department or County agency for more information. Read
more here from the FCC's official web site.
The Burn Ban Has
Expired, BUT................
Five things you
need to know about open burning laws, according to the state
Department of Environmental Conservation reports on regulations that
became effective last October.
1. Burning trash is now prohibited statewide in all cases.
Existing incinerator rules already prohibited burning household trash
in wood stoves, fireplaces and outdoor wood boilers.
2. All open burning is prohibited in New York state with several
exceptions including:
Campfires less than three feet in height and four feet in length,
width or diameter.
Small cooking fires are allowed.
Fires cannot be left unattended and must be fully extinguished.
Only charcoal or clean, dry, untreated or unpainted wood can
be burned.
Ceremonial or celebratory bonfires are allowed. In towns
with a population less than 20,000, you may burn tree limbs with attached
leaves. The limbs must be less than six inches in diameter and eight
feet in length.
3. Burning leaves is banned in New York state. The
DEC encourages residents to compost leaves.
4. Organic agricultural waste may be burned on-site where they
are grown or generated including brush and wood produced by
clearing fields and other activities. The fire must be located on contiguous
agricultural land larger than five acres, and the materials capable
of being fully burned within 24 hours. The burning of pesticides, plastics
or other non-organic material is prohibited.
5. Allowable occasions for open burning include: To
control invasive plant and insect populations (case-by-case DEC approval
is not required). Also to control plant and animal disease outbreaks,
upon request by the Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets. Liquid
petroleum fueled smudge pots to prevent frost damage to crops (But burning
tires and other waste materials for smudge is not allowed). Prescribed
burns, the burning of forest land to achieve a vegetative or wildlife
management goal, can be performed but only in accordance with DEC regulations.
Check with your regional DEC office.
Battery
for your Smoke Detector - $1.49
Carbon Monoxide Detector - $29.99
Being
awaken by either and living to tell the story.....
PRICELESS
!!
BEING SAFE IS NOT EXPENSIVE!!
Amanda's Law: Under Amanda's Law, homes
built before January 1, 2008, are permitted to have battery-powered
CO alarms, while homes built after this date are required to have the
alarms hard-wired into the building. Previously, only homes built or
bought after July 30, 2002 were required to have these devices installed.
Additionally, Amanda's Law will require contractors in New York State
to install a CO alarm when replacing a hot water tank or furnace if
the home is not equipped with an alarm.
On average, about 170 people in the United States die every year from
CO produced by non-automotive consumer products. These products include
malfunctioning fuel-burning appliances such as furnaces, ranges, water
heaters and room heaters; engine-powered equipment such as portable
generators; fireplaces; and charcoal that is burned in homes and other
enclosed areas.
Wood
Stove Safety
If you're among the thousands who have succumbed to the lure of the
wood burning stove, keep in mind that the return to the good old days
of wood stove heating can have some old-fashioned drawbacks.
Fire hazard is one of them.The resurgence
of the wood burner as a supplementary source of heat has led to an alarming
and growing number of fires traceable to careless installation or misuse.
Here are some principal do's and don'ts:
DO:Make sure there is enough clearance
between the stove and combustible materials, including floors, walls
and ceilings.
DO: Place the stove on a noncombustible, fire resistant base.
DO: Have a mason or other competent person inspect the chimney.
DO: Burn only dry, well-seasoned wood.
DO: Consider opening a window a crack for ventilation.
DON'T: Dispose of ashes in a closed metal container outside the house.
DON'T: Extend the stove pipe through
a wall or ceiling unless there is no possible alternative.
DON'T: Connect a wood stove to a fireplace chimney unless the fireplace
has been sealed off.
DON'T: Connect a wood stove to a chimney serving another appliance burning
other fuels.
DON'T: Start a stove fire with flammable fluids, such as gasoline.
DON'T: Burn trash in a stove; doing so can start a chimney fire.
DON'T: Let a wood fire burn unattended or overnight.
SELECTING A STOVE
Be sure your stove is made of sturdy, suitable material, such as cast
iron or steel. Look for stoves listed by Underwriters Laboratories (UL)
or other recognized testing laboratories. If you purchase a used stove,
check it carefully for cracks or other defects. The legs, hinges, grates
and draft louvers also should be checked carefully.
If you live in a mobile home, be
sure your stove is of a type specifically approved for use in such a
dwelling.
INSTALLATION
Before installing your stove, check with local authorities to be sure
you comply with local fire and building codes.
Think twice about where you'll put your stove. Usually a centralized
location is best if the stove is to be used as a heating device. One
point to consider is that warmed air rises. If the stove is too near
a stairwell, you may lose much of your heat to the floor above. If you
plan to use an existing chimney, both its location and the length of
its flue will be determining factors. Note these guidelines:
* The horizontal section of the
uninsulated stove pipe should not be more than three-quarters as long
as that section of the flue above the point at which the pipe and the
flue connect.
* National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards call for a 36-inch
clearance between a room heater stove and any combustible wall or ceiling
surface. If the length of the horizontal portion of the stove pipe won't
permit that much clearance, protect the combustible wall with a panel
of some protective material, such as sheet metal, spaced at least one
inch from the wall.
Careful attention to the floor mounting
of your stove is essential. To meet NFPA standards:
* Stoves having less than two inches of ventilated open space beneath
the fire chamber or base of the unit should never be installed on combustible
floors or have any combustible material beneath them unless permitted
by their listing.
* Stoves having legs or pedestals providing two to six inches of ventilated
open space beneath the fire chamber or base may be installed on combustible
floors protected by four inches of hollow masonry, laid to provide air
circulation, and covered with 24 gauge sheet metal unless permitted
by their listing.
* If there are more than six inches of ventilated open space beneath
the fire chamber or base, a stove may be placed on a combustible floor
protected by a solid brick, concrete or stone masonry unit at least
two inches thick. That unit should be covered by a sheet of 24 gauge
steel unless permitted by the stove's listing.
* The floor protection should extend at least 18 inches on all sides
of the stove.
CHIMNEY REQUIREMENTS
If you use an existing fireplace chimney to vent your stove, it must
be sealed off below the stove pipe's point of entry to prevent toxic
gases from backing up into the room. This can be done by:
* sealing off the fireplace opening, or
* sealing off the flue itself between the stove pipe connection and
the fireplace opening.
The cross-section area of the chimney
flue should be at least 25 percent bigger than and not more than three
times that of the stove pipe.
Avoid connecting more than one heating device to a single chimney flue
because flue gases and sparks may pass from one flue opening into another
and unsatisfactory operation may also result.
Be sure your chimney is in good condition and that it has a flue lining.
Check for missing flue tiles and cracked masonry. You may want to have
a chimney sweep check the chimney and a mason make any repairs that
may be needed.
