More Quad City area counties have been placed under open burning bans.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety has banned open burning in Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Lee and Scott Counties.
According to the department’s website, the burn ban for Johnson and Lee counties went into effect on Thursday, April 10, 2014. Scott County’s burn ban was issued Wednesday and Jackson’s went into effect Tuesday.
Previous reports indicate that a permit must be issued by the local fire chief when conducting a controlled burn. The ban does not apply to “the use of outdoor fireplaces, barbecue grills, properly supervised landfills, or the burning of trash in incinerators or trash burners made of metal, concrete, masonry, or heavy one-inch wire mesh, with no openings greater than one square inch,” according to Iowa law.
Violation of the burn ban is considered a simple misdemeanor in Iowa.
