We are at the point in the year where more and more people are doing large scale burns throughout rural parts of the state.

With that mind, Greene County Sheriff Steve Haupert has some reminders for rural county residents to keep in mind. When doing a large scale burn, Haupert recommends notifying dispatch first.

“Just make sure that if you are going to do that burn, whatever it might be (like a) brush pile, those larger piles of debris and any tall grasses that have to be burnt for management purposes, just let the law enforcement center know. Tell the dispatcher who you are and where it will be.”

By notifying the law enforcement center before a controlled burn happens, Haupert points out that it saves them from having to page out fire personnel and law enforcement.

“We don’t want to waste those resources because a lot of the outlying areas, it takes a few minutes for those volunteer people to get there. So we need to consider their safety in getting to an event like that when in fact it was a controlled burn.”

The non-emergency number to the law enforcement center is 386-2136.