Members of the Cumberland County Board of Supervisors voted Jan. 9 to table a request to change ordinances relating to the county’s policy on fireworks and open fires.

The requested revisions to ordinances in chapter 38 of the county code, some which reflect Virginia state code, would include the requirement of permits for fireworks, blastings and open burnings.

Section 38-4 of the ordinance — which the application requested to add — includes permits for blasting for $100, open burning permits for $50 for activity areas that exceed 100 square feet and public firework displays for $75, where applicants would need to present liability limits of no less than $1 million.

The request, if granted, would also amend Section 38-31, making transporting fireworks illegal.

The requested revision of ordinances would lastly repeal rules in sections 38-33, 38-34 and 38-36, which relate to older rules relating to permits for fireworks, penalties for violations and certain exempted fireworks and which County Administrator and County Attorney Vivian Seay Giles said are no longer consistent with the state ordinances.

The ordinance revisions were suggested by the county fire marshals, said Giles, who noted the ordinances could protect residents from the spread of fires.

“They looked at some neighboring jurisdictions, and we tried to err on the side of leniency,” Giles said. “At the same time, it would allow them to implement some procedures that would help them prevent fires here in Cumberland. And it is quite timely, because I’m told there were three this past weekend.”

Giles said blasting has become an option in the county due to the arrival of the Cobbs Creek Reservoir.

Board Chairman Kevin Ingle asked if the amended codes were more strict than the state codes.

Giles said the amended rules were in compliance with the state code and that the measurement of having a permit for open burning in excess of 100 square feet was one of the more lenient measurements.

District Two Supervisor Lloyd Banks and District Four Supervisor David Meinhard expressed confusion regarding the proposed ordinances, including what constitutes as illegal fireworks, and they questioned the fireworks permit.

Giles noted the permits would be for public or commercial events.

Two fire marshals, who attended the meeting, also described issues relating to the ordinance.

They said the permits, particularly for fireworks, could be a potential boon for the county.

“These are targeting the fireworks shows,” Fire Marshal Robbie Felts said in response to Meinhard’s and Banks’ question, “which these are illegal for a normal citizen to use. You can’t go buy a pack of firecrackers in Virginia and light them. The biggest thing with getting this code in Cumberland is the state already has these permits, and they get the money for them. If we bring them into the Cumberland code, we get the money instead of the state.”

Doug Martin, another fire marshal, noted a difference in price between the state and Cumberland, noting state permits for blasting can come up to $250.

Felts said the diameter of the open burning could be adjusted, and Martin said permits also consider the safety of the environment in which the fire is set.

“It all comes into safety,” Martin said. “Say you’ve got a 20-by-20 area, and you’ve got 300 feet of field around it that doesn’t have anything in it — we would like to know. Because if that gets out of hand, guess whose butt’s on the line? It’s going to be ours.”

Felts said those who wouldn’t comply with the ordinance would receive a notice of violation and would need to go to court.

Felts noted the open burning policy would most likely apply to contractors working on large-scale projects similar to Cobbs Creek rather than an individual citizen, and permits would also let dispatchers know which properties commonly operate open burnings to prevent false fire reports, like a citizen confusing a scheduled burning for a field fire.

Ingle expressed concern about the open burning permits.

“I can understand the point, for safety factors, to state the issue,” Ingle said. “But if a dispatcher gets a 911 call saying, ‘I see smoke,’ ‘I see fire,’ and if they don’t send a fire truck, and it does get away, and they send a deputy, there’s a liability. I don’t know if I so much support the brush or open burning. Blasting and fireworks — I can see there needs to be some control in that.”