Chief Won't Issue Permit for MA Man's Jersey-Burning Protest
Source The Providence Journal, R.I.
SWANSEA, Mass. — As Swansea resident and lifelong Patriots fan Mark T. Shane has prepared to stage a Patriots-jersey-burning protest Thursday night at his home, Swansea Fire Chief Eric Hajder said Shane has not been issued a permit to do so and will not get one.
"We cannot legally issue a permit because the material he is proposing to burn is not permitted to be burned," Hajder said in a Thursday morning interview. "Any time open burning is conducted, it would have to be clean wood only."
Hajder said he and the town's police chief met with Shane "at length" Wednesday morning and advised the homeowner that it's against state law to burn anything other than clean wood.
"Essentially, it becomes nuisance smoke," Hajder said. "You are burning trash essentially, and the nuisance smoke that is created by that is the problem."
Such smoke also becomes an environmental hazard that concerns the state Department of Environmental Protection, Hajder said.
Shane told The Providence Journal earlier this week he'd stage the protest after becoming incensed at the New England Patriots football game Sunday when a number of players went down on one knee while the national anthem was played.
Shane said the racial injustice reasoning behind the silent protests among football players is not the issue. Instead, he said, it's about "disrespect" for the flag, the United States and its veterans.
Believing that Shane, who lives at 16 Gardners Neck Rd., intends to proceed anyway with his protest, Hajder said the fire and police departments will likely both head over to the home tonight. It's not unusual for his department to investigate when someone is burning something in town — and if people are found to be burning something other than clean wood, they are advised of the law.
At that point, residents either extinguish the blaze or — if it's a larger burn pile and they cannot do so — firefighters put it out, Hajder said.
(401) 277-7470
On Twitter @JournalKate
———
©2017 The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.)
Visit The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.) at www.projo.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
