(Avoca) An open burning ban has been issued for the Avoca, Minden, and Walnut Fire Districts in Pottawattamie County, effective today (May 14, 2025). Burn Bans also have been issued for Audubon County and Shelby County.
Pottawattamie County Emergency Management says this action has been taken in coordination with local fire officials and the County Emergency Management Agencies of Pottawattamie, Shelby, and Audubon. Some areas within the burn ban are currently under a water boil advisory and experience sporadic water system outages due to the current capacity strain on the Regional Water Rural Water Association system.
Please note, the Boil Order applies only to Regional Water Rural Water Association customers, except those in and around Underwood, McClelland, & Weston.
The decision to implement this burn ban is based on the critical need to conserve water resources necessary for public health and fire suppression considerations. Any large or uncontrolled fire during this period would significantly increase water demand and further threaten the integrity of the water system.
RWRWA customers currently in the active boil advisory are reminded to sign up for Alert Iowa which will be used to deliver any priority or emergency messages related to this event. You can sign up for free alerts at https://www.pottcounty-ia.gov/emergency_management/alert_iowa/.
