The annual summer ban on outdoor burning will be in effect for 54 Georgia counties from May 1st through September 30th.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division puts the ban in place every year to minimize air issues related to ozone pollutants, as indicated by Shasta Farrer, Life/Fire Safety Educator with the Rome-Floyd Fire Department.
According to a recent media release from the Georgia Forestry Commission, when particulate matter from vehicles and smoke gets trapped in hot air, that contributes to higher ozone levels, and this has been linked to lung and heart disease in humans.
Georgia’s outdoor summer burn ban will be in effect in the following counties: Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Columbia, Coweta, Crawford, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Floyd, Forsyth, Fulton, Gordon, Gwinnett, Hall, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Lumpkin, Madison, Meriwether, Monroe, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Paulding, Peach, Pickens, Pike, Polk, Putnam, Richmond, Rockdale, Spalding, Troup, Twiggs, Upson, Walker, and Walton.
For more information about the ban, visit the Georgia Forestry Commission’s website at www.gatrees.org.
