Sheriff: Call before you burn
Ozark County Sheriff Darrin Reed, and fire chiefs across the county, urge area residents to call the Ozark County Sheriff’s Office at 417-679-4633 before doing any type of controlled burn. Notifying the sheriff’s office reduces confusion and prevents local VFDs from needlessly responding. The Ozark County Sheriff’s Department answers calls 24 hours a day.
Local authorities say the smell or sight of smoke or flames from controlled burns that are not reported beforehand are often called into OCSD by neighbors or passers-by. If OCSD hasn’t been informed that the burn is controlled, the dispatcher then tones out local firefighters to respond to the fire, wasting the time of the OCSD, the VFDs and the property owners.