CHAPTER 69. BURNING, OPEN
[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Kellogg at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I). Amendments noted where applicable.]
§ 69-1. Definitions.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.- FIRE CHIEF, FIRE MARSHAL AND ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF
- The Fire Chief, Fire Marshal and Assistant Fire Chief of the Fire Department which provides fire protection services to the City.
- OPEN BURNING
- The burning of any matter if the resultant combustion products are emitted directly to the atmosphere without passing through a stack, duct or chimney, except a recreational fire as defined herein. Mobile cooking devices, such as manufactured hibachis, charcoal grills, wood smokers and propane or natural gas devices, are not defined as "open burning."
- RECREATIONAL FIRE
- A fire set with approved starter fuel no more than three feet in height, contained within the border of a recreational fire site using dry, clean wood; producing little detectable smoke, odor or soot beyond the property line; conducted with an adult tending the fire at all times; for recreational, ceremonial, food preparation for social purposes; extinguished completely before quitting the occasion; and respecting weather conditions, neighbors, burning bans and air quality so that nuisance, health or safety hazards will not be created. No more than one recreational fire is allowed on any property at one time.
- RECREATIONAL FIRE SITE
- An area of no more than a three-foot-diameter circle (measured from the inside of the fire ring or border) completely surrounded by noncombustible and non-smoke-producing or non-odor-producing material, either of natural rock, cement, brick, tile or blocks or ferrous metal only, and which area is depressed below ground, on the ground or on a raised bed. Included are permanent outdoor wood-burning fireplaces. Burning barrels are not a recreation fire site as defined herein. Recreational fire sites shall not be located closer than 25 feet to any structure.
- STARTER FUELS
- Dry, untreated or unpainted kindling, branches, cardboard or charcoal fire starter. Paraffin candles and alcohols are permitted as starter fuels and as aids to ignition only. Propane gas torches or other clean gas-burning devices causing minimal pollution must be used to start an open burn.
- WOOD
- Dry, clean fuel only such as twigs, branches, limbs, "presto logs," charcoal, cord wood or untreated dimensional lumber. The term does not include wood that is green with leaves or needles, rotten, wet, oil soaked or treated with paint, glue or preservatives. Clean pallets may be used for recreational fires when cut into three-foot lengths.
§ 69-2. Prohibited materials.
A. No person shall conduct, cause or permit open burning of oils, petro fuels, rubber, plastics, chemically treated materials or other materials which produce excessive or noxious smoke, such as tires, railroad ties, treated, painted or glued wood composite shingles, tar paper, insulation, composition board, sheetrock, wiring, paint or paint fillers.
B. No person shall conduct, cause or permit open burning of hazardous waste or salvage operations, open burning of solid waste generated from an industrial or manufacturing process or from a service or commercial establishment or building material generated from demolition of commercial or institutional structures.
C. No person shall conduct, cause or permit open burning of discarded material resulting from the handling, processing, storage, preparation, serving or consumption of food.
D. No person shall conduct, cause or permit open burning of any leaves or grass clippings.
§ 69-3. Permit required.
No person shall start or allow any open burning on any property in the City without first having obtained an open burn permit, except that a permit is not required for any fire which is a recreational fire as defined in § 69-1.§ 69-4. Purposes allowed for open burning.
A. Open burn permits may be issued only for the following purposes:
(1) Elimination of fire or health hazard that cannot be abated by other practical means.
(2) Ground thawing for utility repair and construction.
(3) Disposal of vegetative matter for managing forest, prairie or wildlife habitat and in the development and maintenance of land and rights-of-way where chipping, composting, land spreading or other alternative methods are not practical.
(4) Disposal of diseased trees generated on site, diseased or infected nursery stock or diseased bee hives.
(5) Disposal of unpainted, untreated, nonglued lumber and wood shakes generated from construction, where recycling, reuse, removal or other alternative disposal methods are not practical.
B. Fire training permits can only be issued by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
§ 69-5. Permit application; fees.
A. Applications for open burning permits shall be made on forms provided by the City and submitted at least 10 days prior to the desired burn date. The Fire Chief or designee shall review the permit and may issue the permit in conformance with the provisions of this chapter. The Fire Chief or designee may set dates, times, and special conditions as a condition of the permit. The permit holder shall also obtain any required permit from the Department of Natural Resources.
B. An open burning permit shall require the payment of a fee. Permit fees shall be in the amount established from time to time by resolution of the City Council.
§ 69-6. Inspection of proposed burn site.
Upon receipt of the completed open burning permit application and permit fee, the Fire Chief, Fire Marshal or Assistant Fire Chief shall schedule a preliminary site inspection to locate the proposed burn site, note special conditions and set dates and time of permitted burn and review fire safety considerations.§ 69-7. Permit holder responsibility.
A. Prior to starting an open burn, the permit holder shall be responsible for confirming that no burning ban or air quality alert is in effect. Every open burn event shall be constantly attended by the permit holder or his or her competent representative. The open burning site shall have available appropriate communication and fire suppression equipment as set out in the fire safety plan.
B. The open burn fire shall be completely extinguished before the permit holder or his or her representative leaves the site. No fire may be allowed to smolder with no person present. It is the responsibility of the permit holder to have a valid permit, as required by §§ 69-4 through 69-6, available for inspection on the site by the Police Department, the Fire Department, an MPCA representative or a DNR forest officer.
C. The permit holder is responsible for compliance and implementation of all general conditions, special conditions and the burn event safety plan as established in the permit issued. The permit holder shall be responsible for all costs incurred as a result of the burn, including but not limited to fire suppression and administrative fees.
§ 69-8. Revocation of permit.
The open burning permit is subject to revocation at the discretion of a police officer, the DNR forest officer, the Fire Chief, Fire Marshal or Assistant Fire Chief. Reasons for revocation include but are not limited to a fire hazard existing or developing during the course of the burn, any of the conditions of the permit being violated during the course of the burn, pollution or nuisance conditions developing during the course of the burn or a fire smoldering with no flame present.§ 69-9. Criteria for denial of permit.
If established criteria for the issuance of an open burning permit are not met during review of the application, if it is determined that a practical alternative method for disposal of the material exists, if a pollution or nuisance condition would result or if a burn event safety plan cannot be drafted to the satisfaction of the Fire Chief, Fire Marshal or Assistant Fire Chief, these officers may deny the application for the open burn permit.§ 69-10. Burning ban or air quality alert.
No recreational fire or open burn will be permitted when the City or DNR has officially declared a burning ban due to potential hazardous fire conditions or when the MPCA has declared an air quality alert.§ 69-11. Rules and laws adopted by reference.
The provisions of Minn. Stat. §§ 88.16 to 88.22 and the Minnesota Uniform Fire Code, Minn. Rules Ch. 1510, as these statutes and rules may be amended from time to time, are hereby adopted by reference and made a part of this chapter as if fully set forth at this point.§ 69-12. Outdoor fires.
A. No person shall build, ignite or maintain any outdoor fire of any kind or character, or for any purpose whatsoever, in or upon any hazardous fire area, except by the authority of a written permit from the Kellogg Fire Chief. Such a permit shall incorporate such terms and conditions which will reasonably safeguard public safety and property. Regardless of permit, however, no person shall build, ignite or maintain any outdoor fire in or upon any hazardous fire area under the following conditions:
(1) When any high wind is blowing (exceeding 15 miles per hour); or
(2) When there is no person aged 18 or older, who is capable of tending such fire, present at all times to watch; or
(3) Such times as public announcement is made that there shall be no open burning.
§ 69-13. Recreational fires.
A. No permit will be required for outdoor fires within habited premises or designated campsites where such fires are built in a permanent barbecue, portable barbecue, outdoor fireplace, grill or a fire pit not to exceed three feet in diameter and 30 inches in height. A fire pit shall have a perimeter of which shall consist of rock, brick or other noncombustible material and shall be a minimum of 15 feet from any structure, brush, tall grass or other similar combustible material.
B. Recreational fires must be at least 10 feet from any property line that abuts another private property or public property which contains public facilities, a minimum of 30 feet from any tall grass, grain, brush or other similar combustible material.
C. Recreational fires must be attended by a person at all times.
D. Water, sand or other material or device to extinguish the recreational fire must be readily available at all times.
E. Recreational fires must be extinguished to the point of being cold before being left unattended.
§ 69-14. Use of grills, fireplaces and fire pits for burning waste prohibited.
No person shall use any permanent barbecue, portable, barbecue, outdoor fireplace, grill or fire pit for the disposal of leaves, garbage, cleanings, rubbish, trash, litter, organic waste, animal residue, tires, treated, painted, varnished or other coated lumber, green or fresh cut wood, or other solid or combustible waste material.§ 69-15. Incinerators and fireplaces.
A. No person shall build, install, or maintain any incinerator, outdoor fireplace, permanent barbecue or grill in any hazardous fire area without first securing written approval of the Kellogg Fire Chief and approval from the Kellogg City Council.
B. Every incinerator, outdoor fireplace, permanent barbecue or grill shall be maintained in good repair and in a safe condition at all times. All openings in any such appliance shall be provided with an approved spark arrester, screen or door. If required for their proper functioning, barbecues and grills may be approved with certain openings left unprotected.
§ 69-16. Bonfires and rubbish fires.
A. For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
- BONFIRE
- A fire larger than three feet in diameter and 30 inches in height.
- RUBBISH
- Useless or rejected construction debris, including waste material from the construction or demolition of buildings.
B. A permit is required to kindle or authorize the kindling or maintenance of bonfires or rubbish fires.
C. No person shall kindle or maintain any bonfire or rubbish fire or authorize any such fire to be kindled or maintained on any private land unless:
(1) The location is not less than 50 feet from any structure and adequate provision is made to prevent fire from spreading to within 50 feet of any structure; or
(2) The fire is contained in an approved waste burner located safely not less than 15 feet from any structure.
D. Bonfires and rubbish fires shall be constantly attended by a competent person until the fire is extinguished. This person shall have a garden hose connected to a water supply or other fire-extinguishing equipment readily available for use.
E. The Fire Chief may prohibit any or all bonfires and outdoor rubbish fires when atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make such fires hazardous.
§ 69-17. Hours of burning.
Waste matter shall not be disposed of by burning except as follows:A. All burning shall take place during hours approved by the Kellogg Fire Chief.
B. Recreational fires shall not be allowed to burn for more than four consecutive hours in one day unless a garden hose and water supply or other fire-extinguishing equipment is on hand and a competent person is in constant attendance until all fire has been extinguished.
C. Burning shall be confined to incinerators. Exception: All burning shall be done in an approved incinerator, except that outdoor burning of combustible waste matter other than paper may be done in the open if:
(1) A permit to engage in such burning is obtained from the Kellogg Fire Chief.
(2) Such burning is done at a distance of more than 50 feet from any building, structure or other combustible waste matter.
(3) A garden hose and water supply or other fire-extinguishing equipment is on hand and a competent person is in constant attendance until all fire has been extinguished. Applicants for such permit must be in legal control of the lot or parcel of land on which the burning is to be done.
§ 69-18. Offensive smoke and odors.
Waste matter shall not be burned, under permit or otherwise, which shall, in burning, cause or create a dense smoke, odor, noxious fumes, gas and soot or cinders in unreasonable quantities.§ 69-19. Fires on decks, balconies or patios and in propane grills.
A. No person shall kindle, maintain, or cause any fire or open flame on any R-1 occupancy deck or balcony above ground level or a combustible ground floor patio immediately adjacent to or within 15 feet of any unit except for the use of an attended propane barbecue grill.
B. No person shall store any charcoal lighter fluid, liquid fuel, kerosene or other similar heating or lighting chemicals on a deck or similar combustible surface.
§ 69-20. Constant attendance at fire required; complete extinguishment required.
Except in an approved incinerator, every bonfire, campfire or burning of combustible waste matter shall be constantly attended by a competent person and shall be completely extinguished before being left alone.§ 69-21. Fire hazard prohibited.
A person shall not construct, erect, install, maintain or use any incinerator or barbecue pit or so burn any combustible material as to constitute or occasion a fire hazard by the use or burning thereof or as to endanger the life or property of any person hereby.§ 69-22. Burning certain items prohibited.
Items which are not allowed to be burned include paper (except when used as a starter), tar paper, roofing, shingles, tires, garbage, paint, varnish, stains, chemicals, cleaning supplies or petroleum based products.§ 69-23. Conditions may prohibit starting of fires.
If conditions, including weather, are not right, fires should not be started.§ 69-24. Responsibility for enforcement.
A. The Kellogg Fire Chief shall be primarily responsible for the administration and enforcement of this chapter. Under his or her direction, the Fire Department shall enforce all ordinances of the jurisdiction pertaining to:
(1) The prevention of fires;
(2) The suppression or extinguishing of dangerous or hazardous fire;
(3) The storage, use and handling of explosive, flammable, combustible, toxic, corrosive and other hazardous gaseous, solid and liquid materials;
(4) The installation and maintenance of automatic, manual and other private fire alarm systems and fire-extinguishing equipment;
(5) The maintenance and regulation of fire escapes;
(6) The maintenance of fire protection and the elimination of fire hazards on land and in buildings, structures and other property, including those under construction;
(7) The means and adequacy of each exit in the event of fire, from factories, schools, hotels, lodging houses, churches, halls, and all other places in which people work, live or congregate from time to time for any purpose; and
(8) The investigation of the cause, origin and circumstances of fire.
B. The Kellogg Fire Chief and designated members of the Kellogg Fire Department shall have the powers of a police officer in performing their duties under this chapter. Further, members of the Wabasha Police Department are also authorized to issue citations or levy administrative fines under this chapter.
C. The Kellogg Fire Chief/Planning Commission and or City Council shall have the authority to stipulate conditions as he deems necessary in all permits. If, in his or her judgment, public safety would be better served, he or she may refuse to issue any such permit.