There seems to be much confusion on the topic of open burning in Crowley County and the systems in place to control such burning. This seems to be such a simple topic but in practice it gets quite complicated. I will try to explain the issues here.
The Sheriff’s Office enforces certain state statutes and county ordinances. The bulk of Colorado statutes covering open burns are the realm of the State Health Department and not enforced by the Sheriff’s Office.
The system that is in place is mainly to comply with Crowley County Ordinance #2023-02 covering open burning.
I will not print the entire ordinance here but will refer to parts of it.
2. Permission to Burn Required. That any person desiring to conduct any other Sort of burn, other than as above mentioned, such as, but not limited to, agriculture burning in the nature of field and ditch burning, or other large burns, shall contact the Crowley County Dispatch Center, by telephone, at (719) 267-5235, to secure permission and approval of such open burn prior to conducting any such burn to secure consent for said burn. Verbal telephone permission to conduct any such burn shall be expressly allowed. The Dispatch Center must also be notified when the burn is completed.
3. Time and Atmospheric Restrictions. Open burning shall only be performed when time and atmospheric conditions comply with the limits set forth in the open-burning permit. Limits include:
• No burning permitted when the winds are 15 mph or greater.
• No burning on Red-Flag days.
• No burning after dark.
• Only four (4) permits will be issued at one time, within each district, with agricultural burns taking precedence.
4. Location. Open burning shall not be conducted within 25 feet of any structure. Conditions which could cause the fire to spread to within 25 feet of a structure shall be eliminated prior to ignition. Exception, the 25 feet limit does not apply to residential lawn burning.
5. Fire-extinguishing Equipment. A garden hose connected to a water supply or other approved fire extinguishing equipment.
So, what the Sheriff’s Office does to comply with this ordinance is to take calls from residences wanting to burn. We then give permission based solely on the weather and wind conditions present and predicted. We gather information on where you want to burn and if you have fire extinguishing capabilities available. We do NOT gather information on what you are burning as that is covered in the health department permitting system.
So, to sum up:
The Sheriff’s Office issues permission based on weather conditions.
The Sheriff’s office does not issue permits to burn specific items covered by the Colorado Department of Health.
The Sheriff’s office maintains information on permission given to better respond to any issues that may arise.
The Sheriff’s Office does not give permission in the municipalities as County Ordinances do not apply within their town limits.
I hope this may clear up the many questions that we get on this topic.
Sheriff Terry Reeves
Here is the link to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Open burn small pile/slash permits website. cdphe.gov
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