Chesterton
firefighters responded to an open-burn complaint on Saturday in the 1700
block of Portage Ave.
In fact, the CFD
responded to the same address twice.
Deputy Fire Chief
Nate Williams told the Chesterton Tribune that, at 3:46 p.m., the CPD
was dispatched to the residence after receiving a complaint of an open burn
there. Firefighters made contact with the resident, who was indeed burning
leaves--illegally--in his back yard, Williams said. The man promised to
douse the fire himself and the CFD duly cleared the scene, at 4:01 p.m.
“If it looks like
they’re making a good-faith effort,” Williams explained, “we’ll typically
leave.”
Then, 90 minutes
later, at 5:29 p.m., the CPD was dispatched to the same address, where once
again they found a leaf pile burning. The resident advised that he’d made
good on his promise and extinguished the fire but that it “must’ve
re-kindled itself,” Williams said.
On this occasion
the CFD took matters in its own hands, doused the fire, and cleared the
scene at 5:51 p.m.