(Red Oak, Iowa) – Montgomery County Emergency Management Coordinator Brian Hamman reports, that under the “Authority of the Fire Chiefs [in the County], the Open Burn Ban for Montgomery County is now lifted.”

The ban had been put into place on February 28th, due to windy conditions, combined with tinder vegetation and low humidity, that created a situation where any fires that would start, could spread rapidly, endangering life and property. There were in fact numerous grass and field fires in late February and throughout the month of March, in Montgomery County.

Again, the Burn Ban is no longer in effect. A Burn Ban for Pottawattamie County that had been in effect since March 18th, was lifted April 1st. As of April 2nd, bans on open burning remain in effect for: Adair; Audubon; Guthrie; Mills; Page and Union Counties. (UPDATE: The Mills and Page County burn bans were lifted effective immediately today – April 2nd)