Fire restrictions and burning off around your home

Where I live . . . we get free burn permits (or you can purchase a burn permit on line). As long as it's not too dry or too windy, it's a very easy thing to get. Permits are typically given out for evening burns (after 5 p.m.) when the winds tend to die down and more importantly when more of the volunteer firefighters are in town.

Where I work . . . you get free burn permits from the fire station. Often an Engine Company will check the burn pile to make sure it is not too close to any combustibles, neighbor's or that it has anything illegal in it. While burn permits can be given out for evening use, they prefer day time burning permits.

We're very similar to how Jake has it.
Get a seasonal permit for fires up to 4' in diameter. These are classified into three sizes, all must be contained in some sort of ring or container (camp fire circle of rocks). The larger two are supposed to only be lit after 5 pm. Permit is free.

There's another category on the permit for brush piles. They can be up to 15' (I think) in diameter, can't contain anything over 4" in diameter. Lit after 5 pm.

If it's actively raining or there is snow on the ground you can burn brush anytime without a permit, but a courtesy call to the FD is always appreciated.

I'm out of town a bit, no one has ever checked my seasonal permit, but I always have one.

Common sense and attention to the "fire danger" rating signs posted at ever FD or park entrance go a long way. Once in a blue moon in drought conditions they'll Institute a full on burn ban, but usually people who don't want to burn their houses down have already halted burning by that point.


My "camp fire" area.

Not much different than Jake - grass burning in the spring usually at night and must be attended. Ministry of Natural Resources keeps postings on burn conditions and the last few years have had burn bans due to dry conditions - they even had to institute new by-laws last year because we had dry conditions in April and permits usually are not required until May.

Not everyone is cautious with fire - keeps my brother-in-law and nephew in a job as water bomber pilots. Bush equipment is required to have fire extinguishers so if hot engine ignites wood chips, bark or needles, it doesn't take the whole logging area with it. Blow downs and beetle kill areas are harvested to reduce potential fire load...

One person's carelessness can be extremely costly - especially in populated areas

The local officials in the past would monitor the burn conditions and ban burning for a few days or weeks in the spring before green-up. The local volunteer fire departments finally got sick of constantly putting out grass fires. We now have a county wide ban on open burning until May 15 every year.

I've bought burn permits for brush fires up to 50 feet in any direction. We have a feeder pile of slash and load the fire as it goes to keep it under control. The FD inspects before you start and all is fine.

They made that illegal now, in the last few years. No slash burning is allowed anymore. You are supposed to truck it to a landfill where they grind it.

Around me you're good to go if you have over 5 acres, under that you need to call the local fire department and let them know what you are doing. It's like a verbal permit. I have 3 acres though and have never called and live on a main road with cops driving by all the time. They've never said anything to me.

I did have a neighbor stop by within the first month after I bought the house and was having a small campfire in the evening with some friends. I hadn't met him yet, and drives over to my house, walks up and says "Who owns this house". I go over, tell him my name and hold out my hand to shake his. He ignores my hand hand and bellows "I'm Steve *last name withheld* and I'm your worst f-ing nightmare. Do you have a permit for that fire?! I prefer to not have my woods burned down!"

I explained that 5 of the guys around the fire including me were Eagle Scouts and knew how to handle a fire, that it was early May and with as much rain as we'd had it'd be almost impossible to light a hardwoods forest on fire but there was a hose nearby just in case anything got out of hand, and lastly informed him that he didn't own those woods, I did. Then I offered him a beer.

He grumbled something to the extent that he still liked those woods, didn't care about Eagle Scouts, he only drank malt beverages, and then he felt the need to inform me that he was a Vietnam Vet, and walked back to his truck to drive home. His wife stopped by a couple weeks later and apologized for his behavior which was nice I guess.

We have to buy a seasonal permit for anything more than a 2'x2' "camp fire" Cost is $10. The township has a mailbox set up off their main # that you need to call to activate your permit. Leave message with name, address, permit #, phone # and what time you plan on starting. You are supposed to give 24 hours notice but I've been known to give much less than that. Obviously it's all dependant on weather and conditions. All of our township is supported by various volunteer fire departments. This call in system seems to allow them to better track if they need to respond, or call the permit holder to see if things are under control.