The McKean County Commissioners will meet at noon Monday to
consider authorizing a burn ban for McKean County.

The meeting will be held at the 911 Center, 17175 Route 6 in
Smethport.

“The commissioners will consider a resolution that will
basically institute a countywide burn ban,” explained County
Administrator Richard Casey on Friday. If the commissioners do
enact a ban, it will be in effect 48 hours after the vote on
Monday.

After 30 days, the commissioners can extend the ban if
necessary, Casey said.

“The fire chiefs have been polled and the majority recommended a
burn ban,” he said. “We have a recommendation from the District
Forester to do the same thing.”

Steve Nelson, emergency management agency director, explained
that 14 of 19 fire chiefs in the county had already agreed with
implementing a ban by the time he left his office Friday
afternoon.

“We polled the fire chiefs,” he said. “A couple of them had
concerns with it.”

Nelson said there is always careful study before a ban is
enacted, because emergency officials don’t want the public to feel
they are “crying wolf.”

“It’s something that should be used wisely,” Nelson said of the
ban. “We don’t want to put one out every spring.”

And his biggest concern with a ban is that, if conditions
warrant it, the commissioners should not have to wait 48 hours
after a vote for the ban to go into effect.

“If we had some serious situation, 48 hours could be a problem,”
he said. “I don’t like the time frame the law requires. That’s just
not good enough. It should be effective when voting upon it.”

Both Nelson and Casey said they hope we get some rain soon.

However, Marisa Ferger, meteorologist with the Penn State
Weather Communications Group, said that no large amount of rain
will be coming soon.

“There is a slight chance of rain” for today, but “it’s not
going to be enough rain to replenish the supply that we need.”

The National Weather Service Web site reports that McKean
County’s precipitation, year-to-date, is nearly 50 percent below
average.

Nelson said a lot of the problem currently arises from the lack
of snow this past winter.

“The foliage on top, not being under the snow pack all winter,
has the opportunity to just sit there on top and get drier and
drier,” he said. “It wouldn’t take a lot to make a catastrophic
event.”

Both men explained that, should rain begin after the ban is
enacted, the commissioners can rescind the ordinance.

“If nothing else, we can use it as a rain dance,” Nelson said
with a laugh, adding that burn bans have “led” to rain in the
past.

“If we put one in and nothing happens, good for us, it worked,”
he said. “Hopefully everybody will be responsible enough to follow
the ordinance.”

While the specific wording of the ordinance was not available
Friday, Nelson said there are generally exceptions to the ban for
outdoor grilling and such.

Neighboring Warren County has also enacted a burn ban, which
will go into effect today.