Updated 5-1 to reflect issuance of citation.
The Kenosha man whose backyard fire pit Saturday apparently led to an inferno that burned garages, homes and vehicles has been cited for violating the city's fire pit ordinance.
Erick Jordan's pit was too close to a lot line and the fire was lit outside of the permitted hours for such burning. In addition, the day was too windy, according to Kenosha Fire Chief Charles Leipzig.
Up until last summer, the use of fire pits was illegal in the city. But the City Council authorized their use last summer after adding a number of conditions.
Fire pits can only be used between the hours of 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. No recreational burning is allowed when winds exceed 15 m.p.h. Fire pits and fire places must be more than 15 feet from lot lines and buildings.
The alarm for the McKinley neighborhood fire came in at 3:10, 50 minutes before the daily, six-hour-long window begins.
As for the winds, the reporting station at the Kenosha Regional Airport noted a sustained wind speed of 20 miles per hour, with a gust of 26 just before 2 p.m.
The man told fire officials that he thought he had adequately doused the fire before going back inside. But authorities believe embers must’ve blown into the man’s garage, leading to a conflagration that heavily damaged two homes and destroyed two garages, three vehicles, a motorcycle and a boat. Additional structures in the area sustained lesser degrees of damage.
Jordan told fire investigators that he wasn't aware of the ordinance.
The statute was adopted by the city council last summer on a vote of 11-2.
Proponents argued that an outright ban on fire pits and fire places wouldn’t stop their use, and that the city would be better off establishing conditions for safe operation.
Opponents argued that recreational back yard burning couldn’t be done safely under any circumstance in the city’s higher-density older neighborhoods—like the one where Saturday’s fire occurred.
City fire officials initially opposed legalization, but then withdrew their opposition when a series of limitations were attached to the original proposal.
The new ordinance will come up for an automatic review this fall. One of the two aldermen who voted against it--Jan Michalski--said at Monday night's meeting of the Public Safety and Welfare Committee that changes need to be made.
Leipzig, who was at the meeting, said the key is education. "The people that I talk to that burn frequently will say 'I heard you could burn' or 'I lived in Illinois and you can burn there,'" he said. "We are educating as often as we can when we get out to do inspections. We're handing out cards."
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