By GERRY RICCIUTTI

Special to the Journal

(WKBN) – Although the state of Ohio already has a daytime ban on open burning through the end of this month, several communities in Columbiana County are extending that.

Both the villages of East Palestine and New Waterford — along with Unity Township — have issued emergency bans on any sort of burning at least through the end of this week.

This comes as the National Weather Service issued a special weather statement Monday for an elevated risk of wildfire spread for most of the Valley.

East Palestine Fire Chief Keith Drabick said there are still options for those residents looking to get rid of all their leaves on the ground.

“You know, a lot of the retailers will sell bags. Some municipalities will give out bags to put your leaves in. You can package your leaves up, take ’em to a dump. Some municipalities will even pick them up if you have them bagged up,” he said.

Drabick said while residents can be fined for violating the bans, he is not looking just to issue citations.

“This is about safety of our residents, and you know, just making sure that we can keep everything under control, and we don’t have an incident where… either somebody gets hurt or… we have a large fire that’s gonna tie up safety services for a long time,” he said.

The chief said the ban will remain until weather conditions — calling for very low humidity and wind gusts — improve and reduce the danger of wild and brush fires spreading.

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Kristy Regula contributed to this report.