Forestry Commission issues statewide burning ban

With the approach of Hurricane Dorian, the South Carolina Forestry Commission will issue a State Forester’s Burning Ban for all counties, effective at 7 o’clock this morning. A State Forester’s Burning Ban prohibits all outdoor burning, including yard debris burning, campfires and burning for forestry, wildlife or agricultural purposes in unincorporated areas. While open-fire cooking is not included in the ban, the Forestry Commission strongly advises all citizens to be extremely vigilant until the ban is lifted. “It may seem counterintuitive to call for a burning ban because of the rain that the eastern half of the state is expected to receive from this system over the next few days,” said SCFC Fire Chief Darryl Jones, “but there are other risk factors influencing this decision-making process.” Among those risk factors are elevated drought conditions over much of the state and relative scarcity of firefighting, law enforcement and other emergency personnel resources that are committed to hurricane-related response before and after the hurricane’s arrival.