Published: November 02, 2009 09:39 pm      

Leaves be gone

Fire department stresses safety while burning.

Plumes of smoke often dot the horizon this time of year as Hoosiers burn leaves that coat their yards.

But with fire comes certain dangers so those who choose to conduct a controlled burn need to take certain precautions. Assistant Chief Mike Woolington of the Logansport Fire Department asks that people contact dispatch at the non-emergency number of 574-722-6060, or the fire department, to notify them. Woolington says doing so will save them a trip if someone driving by sees a fire and reports it.

“We have to respond,” he said.

Another tip is to consider wind speed and direction, as well as dryness of the leaves. Also, a fire should never be left unattended. Anyone of those factors can lead to a fire becoming destructive.

Woolington said fire departments spend a great deal of their time in the fall responding to controlled burns that have spread due to burning leaves blowing into dry areas, such as harvested fields and dry forest floors.

Cass County resident Steve Hunt recently spent a day blowing leaves in his yard into a line along his driveway. Hunt says clearing the fallen leaves is an annual duty that he takes seriously.

Hunt monitors the weather and the fire, which he makes sure has a break on each side. He says he never leaves his burns unattended. He understands the method is not fool proof, but he feels safe.

Within Logansport city limits, leaf burning is not permitted. Instead the street department asks residents to rake them into piles along the curbs.

Street commissioner Don Crain says workers started 10 days ago using its three leaf vacuums. They will continue their efforts for as long as the weather holds up. Rain, ice and snow tends to slow the process, he said.

Their first lap through every street in the city should be completed Wednesday. Then they will start over again. They usually make three to four passes total.

Crain encourages the public to continue making leaf piles.

“If the weather permits them to get out and rake their yards, get them raked and then just bare with us. We’re not going to quit until we get done or until Mother Nature shuts us off,” said Crain, who has never seen so many leaves down this early in the year.

Brush pickup is put on hold until the street department is done vacuuming the leaves.

“When the leaves start falling and people start raking them, we gear everything 100 percent toward leaf pickup,” Crain said.

Under Crain’s leadership, the street department has been able to turn unwanted yard waste into something valuable.

All the leaves, grass clippings and tree limbs collected throughout the year go to a 17-acre compost heap on the grounds of the Logansport State Hospital. Leaves, for example, are spread into large rows that are turned and aerated about every 30 days. In as little as eight months, the leaves become soil.

“Those leaves turn into the prettiest black dirt,” Crain said of the method he learned from his grandfather some 40 years ago.

Brush is ground up into mulch, which along with the soil is made available to the public, free of charge.

• Kevin Lilly is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at 574-732-5117 or kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com.