[Adopted 5-13-1997 as § 3.005 of the 1997 Code; amended October
2008]
Except for items otherwise provided in this article, approved training fires, and items within § 107-1 of this chapter, all open burning is prohibited within the Town of Pittsfield. Material for any permitted fire shall not include rubbish, garbage, recycled items, trash, any material made of or coated with rubber, plastic, leather, treated or painted wood or petroleum based materials, and shall not contain any flammable or combustible liquids.
"Recreational fires," defined as any fire such as a campfire or cooking fire for the purpose of recreation and personal enjoyment, are exempt from § 107-3 of this article so long as such fires are started and tended in compliance with the following requirements:
A.
No recreational fire shall be started or allowed to continue burning
when the wind direction or wind speed will cause smoke, embers, or
other burning materials to be carried by the wind toward any building
or other flammable materials. Smoke from any recreational fire shall
not create a nuisance for neighboring property owners. The fire shall
be extinguished immediately upon the complaint of a neighboring property
owner in regard to nuisance smoke.
B.
Adequate fire suppression equipment, such as shovels, fire extinguishers,
water hoses, or other like equipment sufficient to extinguish the
fire, shall be immediately available to extinguish or control the
recreational fire, if necessary.
C.
All recreational fires shall be attended at all times by at least
one responsible person of age 18 or older from the ignition of the
fire until the fire is completely extinguished.
D.
The property owner, renter, or lessee shall be held liable for any
damage caused by any recreational fire, including the cost of any
citations.
Open burning of leaves, weeds, brush, stumps, clean wood and
other vegetative debris is allowed only in accordance with the following
provisions:
A.
All allowed open burning shall be conducted in a safe, nuisance-free
manner, when wind and weather conditions are such as to minimize adverse
effects and not to create a health hazard or a visibility hazard on
roadways, railroads or airfields. Open burning shall be conducted
in conformance with all local and state fire protection regulations.
B.
Except for barbecue, gas and charcoal grills, no open burning shall
be undertaken during periods when a burning ban applicable to the
area has been issued.
C.
Open burning shall be conducted only on the property on which the
material was generated.
D.
Unless explicitly allowed elsewhere in this article, a commercial
enterprise, other than an agricultural or silvicultural operation,
may open burn only at a facility approved by and in accordance with
provisions established by the Department of Natural Resources.
E.
Open burning of weeds or brush on agricultural lands is allowed if
conducted in accordance with other applicable provisions of this article.
F.
Fires set for forest or wildlife habitat management are allowed with
the approval of the Department of Natural Resources.
G.
Burning of trees, limbs, stumps, brush or weeds for clearing or maintenance
of right-of-way is allowed.
H.
Burning in emergency situations, such as natural disasters, is allowed.
I.
Open burning shall be constantly attended and supervised by a competent
person of at least 18 years of age until the fire is extinguished
and is cold. The person shall have readily available for use such
fire-extinguishing equipment as may be necessary for the total control
of the fire.
J.
No materials may be burned upon any street, curb, gutter or sidewalk
or on the ice of a lake, pond, stream or water body.
K.
Except for barbecue, gas and charcoal grills, no burning shall be
undertaken within 25 feet from any combustible material, combustible
wall or partition, exterior window opening, exit access or exit.
A burn barrel may be used in the Town only in accordance with
the following provisions:
A.
The burn barrel shall not be used to burn any of the prohibited materials listed in § 107-3 of this article and may only be used in accordance with the provisions of this article.
B.
The burn barrel shall be located at least 250 feet from the nearest
building that is not on the same property as the burn barrel.
C.
The burn barrel shall have vent holes above the ash line for combustion
air and shall be covered with a heavy wire screen.
D.
The burn barrel shall only serve a personal residence.
Notwithstanding § 107-3 of this article, the Fire Department serving the Town of Pittsfield may burn a standing building if necessary for firefighting practice and if the practice burn complies with the requirements of the Department of Natural Resources.
