§ 18-73. Rules and regulations of open fires

A permit shall be issued only under the following conditions:

(1) The fire chief or the fire chief's designee may issue a burn permit for residential use only for burning of brush, cut tree parts, branches, cut grass or weeds, leaves and untreated lumber. Under no circumstances may the permittee burn any other items. A permit obtained under this article also does not permit the permittee to subvert the purposes of this article by transporting material from other property to the permitted property primarily for the purpose of burning without the written approval of the fire chief or his designee. Consolidation of permitted burnable material from one property with the permitted burnable material from another property, both properties being in the city limits, may be allowed with the permission of the owner of the property on which the fire is permitted and with the written approval of the fire chief or his designee.

(2) Open fires shall be allowed only between the hours of one hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset.

(3) Open fires shall be permitted only on private residential property, with the consent of the owner or the person in charge of the property, and attended by a person of at least 18 years of age for the duration of the burn. This person shall have a pressurized water hose at the burn site for fire control. Also means of notifying the fire department shall be made available.

(4) No person shall cause an open fire unless the surrounding ground shall be cleared of any combustible materials within a 20-foot radius of the location of the fire.

(5) No person shall cause an open fire on public property except in such places and sites duly posted to permit open fires.

(6) Prior to issuance of the permit, the fire department must conduct an on-site inspection of the proposed burn area. The applicant must schedule the inspection at least 24 hours prior to the time burning is requested.

(7) Permits shall be issued only between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

(8) The burn area must be no closer than 50 feet from any structure.

(9) Burning shall not be commenced when surface wind speed is predicted to be less than six miles per hour or more than 12 miles per hour during the burn period.

(10) Burning shall not be conducted during periods of actual or predicted persistent low-level atmospheric temperature inversions.

(11) Burning shall be commenced and conducted only when wind direction and other meteorological conditions are such that smoke and other pollutants will not cause adverse effects to any public road, landing strip, navigable water, or off-site structure.

(12) If at any time the burning causes or may tend to cause smoke to blow onto or across a road or highway, it is the responsibility of the permittee to post flagpersons on affected roads.

(13) In all cases, the permittee must agree to assume all liability and responsibility for the proposed burn.

(Ord. No. 593, § III(A), (C)—(E), (G)—(O), 6-12-2012)