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Mayor LaFrance seeks to curb urban fire danger with new law

GovernmentPress ReleaseCommunity

Mayor LaFrance introduced an ordinance to the Assembly yesterday to criminalize unauthorized fires across the Municipality.
The new law criminalizes starting dangerous fires on public and private land. It makes it a misdemeanor to start unauthorized fires during fire season, to start fires on public roads and sidewalks, or to start any fires in violation of a burn ban.
Right now, people can’t be held accountable for starting unauthorized fires unless and until they cause property damage or get dangerously out of control – in short, when it’s already too late. The Municipality needs meaningful legal tools to deter dangerous fires before they’re started, not just retroactive citations once they’re out of control.
“If you start a fire on the sidewalk in downtown Anchorage or put entire neighborhoods at risk with an illegal fire, there should be clear and swift consequences. This is just common sense,” said Mayor Suzanne LaFrance. “We need to put public safety first. This law will give us the tools we need to do that.”
With this spring’s high fire danger, fire poses one of the biggest risks to life and property in the Municipality. While true wildland fire poses the biggest potential risk to our community by far, a little more than 80% of Anchorage is considered urban wildland. We have many green spaces that make our community beautiful, but also burnable, even in our urban core.
In collaboration with the Anchorage Fire Department and the Municipal Attorney’s office, based on feedback from the community, we are taking action to protect the Municipality from unnecessary fire danger and hold all our residents accountable for their actions.
“Daily, our firefighters respond to outdoor fires set in areas where, if they get out of control, it puts not only the life of the fire-setter at risk of significant or fatal injuries but puts firefighters’ lives on the line and threatens large swaths of our community,” said Anchorage Fire Chief Doug Schrage. “Any action the city can take against illegal fire-setting is a leap forward in preventing wildfire and saving lives.”

Mayor LaFrance seeks to curb urban fire danger with new law

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