The Boulder County commissioners approved an increase in fines for first and second time burn ordinance violations.
The ordinance, which passed on its second reading Thursday, combines the elements from two existing ordinances related to open burning and open fire bans. The biggest change from the previous ordinances are the fine increases, which make a fine for a first time violation $250 instead of $50 and a second time violation $500 instead of $250.
In Colorado, violations of a county ordinance can be fined up to $1,000. Other language changes more closely align the ordinances with state statute, staff told commissioners.
The county relies on the sheriff’s recommendations to declare open fire bans. Restrictions are typically based on National Weather Service alerts including red flag warning, a fire weather watch, high wind watch and high wind warnings.
Boulder County Sheriff’s Office Fire Management Officer Seth McKinney added the revamping of the ordinances is tied to another project revamping the county open burn permitting system. The new version coming out in the next few months will hopefully track not just the applications but also the notification system for open burns, he said.
“Part of the statute for open burning is that we need to provide public information when and where those open burns are happening,” McKinney said. “That’s something that our current system is not capturing.”
The second reading was passed unanimously by the commissioners.
