The Guam Firewise workshop is happening on Wednesday at the Inalahan Mayor's Office from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. This is a time for farmers, ranchers, and farmers to be educated on safe burning practices and prevention.

Dept. of Agriculture Forestry & Soil Resources Division Chief, Christine Camacho Fejeran shared, “If you are burning in your backyard or applying fire outside of burning you are required to have a burn permit.”

Which you can get from the Guam Fire Department.

“Otherwise you run the risk of negligent burning, criminal mischief, arson, and oftentimes it's those small backyard fires that we've done for years, we've never had an issue- we can't control the wind, it's that one spark that one ember from that one fire...we are all chasing a wildfire. From an innocent fire,” said Fejeran.

Guam Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Ronnie Chiguina says there are a lot of people who are not aware of the open burning permitting policy.

“When we do respond, these unauthorized control burns are educating these individuals and obviously providing all that information. Most of our engine companies have the applications on board, so we can share that information to our residences. Obviously they have to be extinguished, if you get caught you are so liable to get a citation. There's fines to that ranging from $100 to $1000,” said Chiguina.

As Michael Aguon, Chair of Southern Guam Water & Soil Conservation, says learning is a process. It's an ongoing thing even if you have been doing it for years.

“There's always time to learn other things, go along with that-connect the farmers with everyone,” said Aguon.

Take advantage of this workshop and be informed.

“If you're interested in agriculture…Landowners [can] come out to our outreach events. There's a lot to learn. What you can learn on your land,” added Aguon.