(A) The President of the Board of Commissioners may declare, pursuant to I.C. 10-14-3-29, that a state of emergency exists necessitating a burn ban in Dearborn County and invoke and declare those portions of the Indiana Code which are applicable to the conditions and invoke the full force and effect of this section in Dearborn County, Indiana, and the exercise of all necessary emergency authority for the protection of lives and property of the people of Dearborn County, Indiana. Such declaration by the President of the Board of Commissioners of Dearborn County, Indiana shall be in full force and effect until the next meeting of the Board of Commissioners of Dearborn County, at which meeting the Board shall either reject the declaration or ratify the declaration. If rejected, the burn ban shall expire immediately; and, if confirmed, it shall continue in full force until the Board declares the end of the emergency which led to the declaration.
(B) Upon issuance of the declaration the following activities may be prohibited in Dearborn County, Indiana:
(1) Campfires and any other form of recreational fire unless said fires are enclosed in a fire ring measuring at least 23 inches in diameter and ten inches or more in height.
(2) Open burning of any kind using wood or any other combustible matter, with the exception of cooking grills fueled by charcoal briquettes or propane gas. Charcoal from permitted grills shall not be removed from a grill until the charcoal has been thoroughly extinguished.
(3) Open burning of any kind of debris, such as timber, vegetation, building construction waste or otherwise, with the exception of burning barrels with a one-quarter inch mesh top and said burning shall be permitted from dawn to dusk only.
(4) Subject to I.C. 22-11-14-10.5, the usage of consumer fireworks.
(C) Any individual or entity found in violation of this section shall be subject to a fine of not less than $200 but not more than $1,000, plus applicable court costs.
(D) Pursuant to I.C. 22-11-14-10.5, the prohibition on usage of consumer fireworks found in § 96.01(B)(4) shall only apply to the unincorporated areas of Dearborn County. Additionally, the usage of consumer fireworks may not be prohibited by §
(1) Between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and two hours after sunset on June 29, June 30, July 1, July 2, July 3, July 5, July 6, July 7, July 8, and July 9;
(2) Between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 midnight on July 4; and
(3) Between the hours of 10:00 a.m. on December 31 and 1:00 a.m. on January 1.
(E) CONSUMER FIREWORKS is defined by I.C. 22-11-14-1 as follows:
(1) A small firework that is designed primarily to produce visible effects by combustion, and that is required to comply with the construction, chemical composition, and labeling regulations promulgated by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission under 16 CFR 1507. The term also includes some small devices designed to produce an audible effect, such as whistling devices, ground devices containing 50 milligrams or less of explosive composition, and aerial devices containing 130 milligrams or less of explosive composition. Propelling or expelling charges consisting of a mixture of charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate are not considered as designed to produce an audible effect. Consumer fireworks include:
(a) Aerial devices, which include sky rockets, missile type rockets, helicopter or aerial spinners, roman candles, mines, and shells;
(b) Ground audible devices, which include firecrackers, salutes, and chasers; and
(c) Firework devices containing combinations of the effects described in § 96.01(E)(1)(a) and (b) above.
(2) CONSUMER FIREWORKS does not include the following items:
(a) Dipped sticks or wire sparklers. However, total pyrotechnic composition may not exceed 100 grams per item. Devices containing chlorate or perchlorate salts may not exceed five grams in total composition per item;
(b) Cylindrical fountains;
(c) Cone fountains;
(d) Illuminating torches;
(e) Wheels;
(f) Ground spinners;
(g) Flitter sparklers;
(h) Snakes or glow worms;
(i) Smoke devices; and
(j) Trick noisemakers, which includes: party poppers, booby traps, snappers, trick matches, cigarette loads, and auto burglar alarms.
(F) All public officials and employees of Dearborn County, Indiana, are hereby called upon to exercise the utmost diligence and discharge of duties required of them for the duration of the emergency and in the execution of laws, regulations, and directives whether state and/or local.
(G) All Dearborn County, Indiana, residents are hereby called upon and directed to comply with emergency management measures, to cooperate with public officials and disaster services forces in executing emergency management plans and to obey and comply with the lawful directions of properly identified officers.
(BC Ord. 2010-06, passed 10-19- 10; Am. BC Ord. 2019-015, passed 10-15-19)