Burn season will officially re-open on Oct. 1, after five months under a ban, but those hoping to build fires will have to follow a number of rules.

Carroll County Fire Chief Gary Thomas said counties across northern Georgia are banned from starting outdoor fires from May until October each year in an effort to preserve air quality. The only outdoor fires allowed are those used for cooking, but Thomas said a special pardon was granted in May of this year to allow county residents to burn debris left over after two tornadoes hit the county. Starting next week, residents can again begin to burn outdoors, but anyone hoping to build a fire must first call to receive a permit from the Georgia Forestry Commission.

Matthew Ibbetson, a ranger with the Georgia Forestry Commission’s Carroll, Douglas and Haralson division, said the commission started issuing the burn permits in the early 1980s, and Thomas said the permits have significantly decreased the number of fires through the autumn and winter months.

“That has really helped us over the years,” Thomas said.

Whether or not burning will be allowed in a given area changes day to day based on weather conditions. Ibbetson said that the decision is based mostly on the amount of humidity in the air and velocity of winds. He said the number of days when permits are issued changes each year. He said only two years ago, the commission allowed permits nearly every day but that 2007 had far fewer days due to drought conditions.

“There’s not a good average, and the weather’s constantly changing,” Ibbetson said.

Thomas said last year was a particularly dangerous time for burning.

“We’re normally humid, so the majority of the time, weather-wise you should be able to burn,” he said. “But in the last few years we have had more days with lower humidities and gusty winds. Those two coupled together really create a danger.”

On some of those windy, low-humidity days when burning is considered the most dangerous, red flag warnings are issued by the National Weather Service. Carroll County and its surrounding areas were issued a red flag warning on Thursday, when county firefighters responded to several brush fires, one of which burned across three acres off Pleasant Ridge Road in Carrollton. Firefighters and Forestry Commission rangers were able to get the fire under control quickly.

Both Thomas and Carrollton Fire Chief Jimmy Bearden agreed that even with the permit system in place, fewer fires are reported when the burn ban is in effect.

“It’s really slow when the burn ban is in effect,” Bearden said. “It’s during the spring every year when we’re the busiest. Then it just kind of goes away until October.”

Ibbetson said that the number of fires in Carroll County does not tend increase as soon as the ban is lifted in October because the ground has retained some of its moisture and much of the vegetation is still green. By January or February the soil has lost some of that moisture and most vegetation is dead and dry, which leads to the busiest fire season of the year. Thomas said county firefighters responded to 100 brush or grass fires and 59 structural fires between January and April 2008 and 73 brush or grass fires and 57 structural fires between May and August.

Bearden said even if an individual receives a burn permit on a given day, fires should be avoided or extinguished if the wind picks up.

“If it’s windy or extremely dry, you really have to use extra caution,” Bearden said. “We advise people not to burn on windy days ‘cause it only takes a minute for it to get out of control.”

Thomas said fires must be watched at all times and that simple common sense should be exercised when dealing with fires.

One-day burning permits can be obtained by calling 1-877-652-2876 or visiting www.gatrees.org.