'Burn ban' in effect in Upper Milford Until Further Notice

Today, a couple of Upper Milford Township Public Works employees are being called in to work on their day off, thanks to Upper Milford Supervisor .

DeVault raised a question during his Supervisor’s report at last night’s Upper Milford Township Board of Supervisors meeting that set the wheels in motion for calling the men in today: What’s the process for instituting a “burn ban” in the township?

DeVault, who also serves as the assistant fire chief for , had been on a telephone call earlier Thursday with the fire chiefs of Citizen's and .

According to DeVault, during that call the chiefs said that “based on present weather conditions and the forecast over the weekend” they believed a ban on “open burning” in Upper Milford should be instituted.

Township manager Dan DeLong told DeVault that the way the township ordinance is written the decision to institute a burn ban is at the discretion of the fire chiefs.

“The problem with the ordinance,” DeLong said, “is that it’s up to the fire chiefs to make the call on the ban, but it’s township employees who will have to work overtime to post the signs.”

DeLong sent the following statement to Emmaus Patch via email Thursday night:

“By mutual consent of the Fire Chief's of Upper Milford Township and by authority of Township Ordinance No. 97 as amended by Ordinance No. 107 the Fire Chief's declare that effective Thursday, April 5th, 2012, until further notice, there shall be no open burning allowed within the municipal limits of Upper Milford Township. Open burning is defined as a fire, not directed through a flue, which emits air contaminants directly into the outdoor atmosphere.”