Outdoor fireplaces illegal

[KBCraig]

From the Berlin Daily Sun (no URL available):

Permit needed for outdoor fireplaces

Barbara Tetreault

BERLIN ? Many people enjoy sitting around an open fire on a summer night. The number of inexpensive portable fireplaces on the market has made it easy for homeowners to set up a fire in their backyard.

But before you light up, state law says you first need to get a burn permit. A burn permit is required for outside burning unless the ground is covered with snow. In Berlin, you can get go through the local fire department to get a permit.

Fire Chief Randall Trull said when the permit is issued, the department will go over the regulations with the applicant. No open burning is allowed between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Fires must be at least 25 feet from a structure - more if they are not in a contained fire incinerator. That means no fireplaces on decks.

When the fire is burning, someone has to be in attendance at all times and you have to have a garden hose or bucket of water nearby to extinguish the fire. Even then, the permit holder is liable for the costs of extinguishing escaped fires.

Then there are restrictions on what you can burn. You can?t burn trash, painted wood, or construction debris. Brush can not exceed five inches in diameter.

Gas or charcoal grills do not require a fire permit. But chimeneas and portable firepits do.
Trull said the department will usually do a home inspection for a full-blown fire place. He said many of the portable fire pits and chimeneas allow for only limited fires and said the department has not had a lot of issues with them.

Complaints usually center on fires that are too large or smoky.

Trull said the department issues about 200 burn permits a year. Not getting a permit can be expensive. The law allows for fines of up to $2,000 and a year in jail. The department?s policy is to issue a written warning first. The chief said that usually is effective in persuading the home owner to get the necessary permit. He said last year the department issued only four or five citations.

[aries]

I belive this only refers to fire pits like many people have in their back yards, and not to charcoal but brush and other things that will support a large fire.

Since the permits are handed out like candy canes at christmas time with little or no question of site safety, I have no idea why they bother to issue them at all. Most people dont even bother

[KBCraig]

It specifically says that is illegal to light a fire in chimineas and portable fire pits (the kind you can buy at Wal Mart or Sam's, usually hammered copper with a grate and a screen cover).

I understand that NH LEOs usually use good judgement. They're not going to cite someone for "illegal burning" when they are roasting hot dogs over a brazier or turkish fire pit, or if they set up a campfire ring in their back yard. After all, do they really want to get into defining what a "barbecue grill" is, since those are exempt?

I'm just very wary of possible abuse of such statutes. I know the citations issued were probably for burning brush piles without having someone on hand with a hose and shovel. Or for laying down a heavy smudge by burning leaves, smoking out the neighbors.

But, you always have to examine laws not by their intent, but by how they could be misused years down the road. My town recently passed an outdoor burn ban. The intent was to outlaw burning brush and leaves, but, per the letter of the law, they also banned outdoor fire pits, chimineas, and even charcoal grills. Unintended consequences can really suck. Being familiar with small town politics, I know all too well that Person A can burn a brush pile with immunity, while Person B (whose neighbors are looking for an excuse to bust him) could wind up with a court date for firing up his barbecue grill.

We must never trust that laws will be used as intended, but must always look at how they can be abused.

Kevin

[lildog]

But before you light up, state law says you first need to get a burn permit.

State law???

Does anyone have a link to this law?

I have a metal drum that I burn branches in that I've specifically asked the police about and I was told that the law pertains only to open files.  If they are contained in a drum or outdoor fireplace they are legal even without a permit.

[lildog]

http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/indexes/227-L.html

I think that's the RSA but I don't see where it defines what needs a permit and what doesn't.

[Pat McCotter]

http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/indexes/227-L.html

I think that's the RSA but I don't see where it defines what needs a permit and what doesn't.

http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/XIX-A/227-L/227-L-17.htm

[KBCraig]

Thanks, PatMc. I was just relaying the news article, and hadn't bothered looking up the actual law yet.

Kevin

[lildog]

Well I found out for sure that it is illegal to burn outdoors even in a fire place without a government permit.

I have a metal drum I've used to burn small branches, I also have a chiminea and a copper fire pit.  I was burning up a small bush I cut down and before long the fire department had someone pulling into my driveway claiming someone filed a complaint.  They lectured me saying to burn any kind of brush a need a type 2 permit.  And I'd need a type 1 seasonal if I wanted to use my chiminea (the permit by the way costs more then I paid for the chiminea).  I am also not allowed to burn small branches or brush in the chiminea.

The fire fighter also insisted on watching while I put out the fire.

This law is out right ridiculous and needs to be changed!  Having to pay for a permit which costs more then some outdoor fire places is WAY over the top.

[Dreepa]

This law is out right ridiculous and needs to be changed! 

I smell an LSR coming.

[ny2nh]

In Manchester, you cannot use chimeneas at all.....and supposedly no open fires at all. I do believe that a fire being used to cook on is allowed, though.....or at least that is the way it used to be. I can't see how anyone can tell someone they can only cook using gas - not wood.

People should be safe - there should be a way to extinguish the fire, and it should be contained somehow - say in one of those metal fire pits or a cement bottom fireplace or soemthing like that.

Not that I would know anything about backyard fires.

[JonM]

I got a class 1,2,3 permit at the local FD for the cost of the gas it took to get there and the 10 minutes it took for them to do the paperwork while the guy apologized that it was taking so long.

[Spencer]

Well I found out for sure that it is illegal to burn outdoors even in a fire place without a government permit.

I have a metal drum I've used to burn small branches, I also have a chiminea and a copper fire pit.  I was burning up a small bush I cut down and before long the fire department had someone pulling into my driveway claiming someone filed a complaint.  They lectured me saying to burn any kind of brush a need a type 2 permit.  And I'd need a type 1 seasonal if I wanted to use my chiminea (the permit by the way costs more then I paid for the chiminea).  I am also not allowed to burn small branches or brush in the chiminea.

The fire fighter also insisted on watching while I put out the fire.

This law is out right ridiculous and needs to be changed!  Having to pay for a permit which costs more then some outdoor fire places is WAY over the top.

What law did they cite to you?  I read the permit RSA that Duncan posted, and it appears to apply only on land belonging to someone other than the burner (i.e., land of another, the dump, etc.).

[Spencer]

Never mind; it looks like the extremely poorly-written RSA re: permits referencing the city dump applies to any burning, as well.

[lildog]

This law is out right ridiculous and needs to be changed! 

I smell an LSR coming.

LSR?

[Spencer]

This law is out right ridiculous and needs to be changed! 

I smell an LSR coming.

LSR?

Legislative Service Request (it is the process by which bills are researched and written by staffers in NH after requests from legislators).