Dove World told it can't burn Qurans
Gainesville's fire chief says under the city's fire prevention ordinance, an open burning of books is not allowed.
By Chad Smith
Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, August 19, 2010
gainesville.com
The city of Gainesville has denied Dove World Outreach Center's application for a burn permit to set fire to copies of the Quran on Sept. 11, but the church says it plans to burn the holy books anyway.
Gene Prince, interim chief of Gainesville Fire Rescue, said Wednesday that under the city's fire prevention ordinance, an open burning of books is not allowed.
Dove World has made international news since announcing its intention to burn the holy book of Islam to mark the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Telephone and e-mail messages left for church officials were not immediately returned Wednesday.
But permit or no permit, the church has indicated it will go ahead with its planned protest of Islam.
In an e-mail newsletter sent out Wednesday, the church announced: "City of Gainesville denies burn permit -- BUT WE WILL STILL BURN KORANS."
Prince said his department notified the church, which according to previously published reports has fewer than 100 members, of the decision in a letter that was mailed Tuesday. He said the church could be fined if it went ahead and held the burning.
Deputy Chief Tim Hayes, who serves as the department's fire marshal, said he and an investigator went to the church's 20-acre property on Northwest 37th Street earlier this month to determine what the burn would entail.
Under the fire ordinances the City Commission adopted last year, bonfires aren't allowed without a permit, Hayes said.
Under Section 10-63, "Open burning and outdoor burning are prohibited in the City of Gainesville unless otherwise specifically permitted as provided by this article."
The section goes on to prohibit burning newspaper, corrugated cardboard, container board or office paper, which are akin to books, Prince said.
Hayes said the denial had nothing to do with the church's intent.
"It wouldn't matter what the book is they're burning," he said.
Mayor Craig Lowe, who has called Dove World a "tiny fringe group and an embarrassment to our community," backed Prince's decision.
"Based upon the law and the ordinances that have been set forward by the city of Gainesville, I support and respect the decision," Lowe said.
Lowe has received at least one e-mail from a resident asking that the city use the fire prevention ordinance to shut down the Quran burning.
However, Lowe said he hadn't spoken with Prince about Dove World's plan and didn't ask him to use the fire ordinances as a way to stop it.
Either way, the mayor said, "Just because something is permitted doesn't mean someone should do it." |
