The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has added Crow Wing County and Cass (South) County to the burn restrictions list on Monday, April 5.

The releases says the state will not issue burning permits for brush or yard waste in the counties on the burn restriction list until the restrictions are lifted. People who burn debris will be held financially responsible if their fire escapes and burns other properties.

The DNR fire prevention supervisor, Casey McCoy, spoke on how effective these restrictions are.

“Warm and dry conditions are key factors for wildfires, so we have to remain on alert about restricting open burning. These restrictions really do work; they’ve helped reduce wildfires by more than 30 percent over the past decade.”

The entire list of counties on the burn restriction list is as followed; Anoka, Becker, Beltrami, Benton, Cass, Chisago, Clay, Clearwater, Douglas, Grant, Hennepin, Hubbard, Isanti, Itasca, Kanabec, Kittson, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Norman, Otter Tail, Pennington, Polk, Pope, Ramsey, Red Lake, Roseau, Sherburne, Stearns, Stevens, Todd, Traverse, Wadena, Washington, Wilkin, and Wright County.

By — Chris Burns