Bemidji Fire Department Discouraging Burning of Debris from June Storm

The Bemidji Fire Department is urging everyone that has any leftover debris from the storm that swept through Beltrami County two weekends ago to be patient as the city begins its first rounds of curbside debris pickup and to not burn any of it.

Bemidji fire chief Justin Sherwood says his department is receiving numerous calls every day for burning permits. While Sherwood says they are still issuing them, the Bemidji Fire Department is discouraging anyone from starting a burn pile to clean up any debris for several reasons.

“The debris we’re trying to burn is green,” Sherwood said. “Green trees, green leaves, and some of the leaves, yes, are turning brown. But the sticks and the logs are full of moisture. And so when we start those on fire, it’s creating a very dense, heavy white smoke. It doesn’t go up and it’s actually blanketing the community. And so we’re starting to get some complaints on that.”

Chief Sherwood is urging everyone to utilize the dump sites set up throughout the county to drop off any debris. If you do decide to burn, though, Sherwood wants to provide the public with the best way to do that to mitigate the risk of wildfires.

“I think we have to pay attention to the weather. You have to contact your fire warden, whether it’s outside the city or contact us here at Bemidji Fire Station 1, and you have to obtain a permit,” he explained. “And that permit, while it allows you to burn, it doesn’t [prevent] us from shutting down that burn, when we burn those piles that smoke. And if it goes up and if it disrupts your neighbor, who may have a breathing problem, who just doesn’t like it, we’ll come and put it out, and we don’t want those interactions, either. And so we’re just asking the public to be mindful, to be patient. And by all means, if you can, especially in the city, let’s wait for that debris pickup to come along and be taken away.”

Beltrami County Solid Waste has made adjustments to their hours with weather and staffing considerations. The Blackduck transfer station will be closed on Saturday, July 5th, while the Bemidji transfer station will be operating under normal hours.

The debris site at Target and the demolition landfill will be closed on Saturday, July 5th due to forecasted heavy rainfall. Both debris sites will be open from July 7th through the 11th from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on July 12th from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. On July 13th, the Target site will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.