Fire extinguisher

Heath Smith has been Chief of Argo fire department for three weeks now. He said in his short tenure as chief, he’s aware of all the brush burning occurring in Argo and burning yard debris is potentially hazardous.

During an Argo city council meeting Monday night, Smith requested there be a charge to have a burning permit. Recently, a tree business started a fire and neglected it, forcing the Argo fire department to spend three hours putting it out.

“Truth is, had the permitting been done correctly, we probably could have mitigated that happening to begin with, because it was entirely too close to the woods,” said Smith.

The intent is not to regulate burning altogether, but to insure that the people of Argo are doing it safely. Another reason Smith wants to charge a fee for a burning permit is because of the administrative cost for paper, ink and other office supplies needed for issuing a burn permit.

“It’s not my goal to put a hardship on the citizens by any stretch,” Smith said.  “It’s not really anything other trying to offset some of the office cost.”

In the month of May, 11 people got their burn permits. Since people physically show up to apply for their permit, it allows Smith to educate citizens on burning responsibly. His key goal as the new chief is to protect life and property.

“If we can give residents a few safety messages along the way then maybe we’re going to prevent that fire from getting out of control and thus reaching our end goal which is to protect life and property,” stated Smith.

Argo fire department received a grant through the Alabama fire college. They were given 95 smoke detectors to install for any Argo resident lacking one to further protect the public.

For more information about burn permits or smoke detectors, call the Chief of Argo Fire department, Heath Smith at 205-352-2109.