COUNTY LIFTS BURNING BAN AFTER WET WEATHER ARRIVES

JACKSON -- With .38 of an inch of rain over the past two days, the Cape Girardeau County restricted burn order has been withdrawn.

The order, signed by Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones, cited a prediction for more rain over the next few days as a reason for rescinding the order.

However, if dry, warm weather returns, so will limits on burning, Jones stated in the order.

Most people have followed the order, said Capt. Ruth Ann Dickerson of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. No citations for violating the restrictions were issued by the sheriff's department.

Residents of Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City also have been generally compliant with requests by municipal officials to avoid burning leaves and limbs.

Cape Girardeau has withdrawn its request that residents refrain from burning, said Tom Hinkebein, fire marshal. Burning permits for brush and land clearing will be issued again, he said, while the city ordinance restricting leaf burning from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. continues.

Most Cape Girardeau residents obeyed the city's appeal, said Max Jauch, assistant fire chief.

But regardless of any warning, some people will continue to burn leaves, Jauch said."There are some people who have burned their leaves for years and years, and they'll continue to do it now," Jauch said. "We usually won't give them a citation. We'll just put the fire out."Others who violated the 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. time period for outdoor burning have recently moved to the area and are not aware of the municipal ordinance, he said.

The Scott City Fire Department began telling residents who inquired on Monday that the city's burning restrictions were lifted, said Jay Cassout, fire chief. "Overall it went well," Cassout said. Scott City's burning ordinance limits fires to leaves and limbs between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Cassout said. In Jackson, firefighters waited to hear from the County Commission Tuesday afternoon before saying the order was lifted, said Les Crump, assistant fire chief."We got some calls yesterday, and we were telling people that it's still in effect," Crump said. "It's so nasty out today, so people probably won't even think of burning."Jackson residents were more amenable to the burn limits than he expected.