By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Fire chiefs from across Marion County convened Friday at Hillsboro’s Scout House, to discuss changes to last year’s burn resolution but decided to keep it for now.

“We really haven’t had a chance to exercise this,” Hillsboro chief Ben Stecketee said. “Last year people were unwilling to start fires, and wisely so.”

Leaving the resolution another year would give farmers the chance to form more of an opinion, rural Peabody resident Randy Eitzen said.

“With all the moisture we’ll probably have high humidity the whole spring,” he said. “Even though we might have some fires get a little out of control, we probably won’t have any wildfires unless somebody starts a fire with 60 mile an hour winds. I hope we all realize that’s not a good day to start.”

Eitzen suggested making a requirement that individuals have liability insurance or they aren’t allowed to burn.

“All of us need liability insurance to drive a vehicle,” he said. “Vehicles can be dangerous, but so can a fire if you use it the wrong way.”

Under the current resolution, departments must be informed within two hours of when an individual decides to burn.

The county has rules and regulations for burning on its website homepage, but having a phone app to call in a burn would make the process easier, Eitzen said.