[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Derry8-8-2016by Ord. No. 770. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Derry Borough
Open Fires, Outdoor Burning and Incinerator Ordinance."
It is against public policy to permit uncontrolled and unrestricted
outdoor burning and the burning of substances in incinerators that
create a nuisance within the Borough, as more specifically set forth
below. The purpose of this article is to prevent needless damage to
life and property because of public and private nuisances caused by
outdoor fires deliberately and/or carelessly set and maintained.
For the purpose of this article, the following words and terms
shall have the meanings ascribed to them herein:
The Borough of Derry, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
Any fire contained in an incinerator, fireplace, cooking
grill or other fireproof container or enclosure designed for indoor/outdoor
cooking, heating, or leisure purposes.
The person designated by Borough Council to enforce this
article. The Enforcement Officer may hold other positions with the
Borough.
Any fire set or maintained outside of a building.
A furnace or apparatus for burning waste materials, especially
industrial waste, at a high temperature until it is ash.
Any individual, partnership, corporation, organization, association,
agency, firm, estate and any other legally recognized entity, and
the members of such partnership or association and the officers of
such corporation.
Any entity whose primary jurisdiction includes all or a portion
of the territorial limits of the Borough, which may include the Pennsylvania
State Police or any municipal or regional police department formed
by the Borough, participated in by the Borough or with which the Borough
has a contract for police protective services.
Any member of the Pennsylvania State Police, Derry Borough
Police Department or any municipal or regional police department contracted
with or formed by the Borough.
A fire contained within a pit or other noncombustible enclosure
for the purpose of pleasure, religious, ceremonial, or other similar
purposes.
An individual 18 years or older who is not under the influence
of drugs, alcohol or suffering from any other disability which would
impair his or her ability to properly supervise a fire.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person or persons, either directly or
indirectly, to kindle or maintain any fire or authorize or permit
any fire to be kindled or maintained on any public road, street, alley,
sidewalk, ice of a lake, pond, stream or body of water within the
Borough. If supervised by a responsible adult and all other requirements
of this article are met, contained fires for cooking and campfires
may be maintained upon park or recreational land owned by the Borough,
where the Borough has designated an area for this purpose and an appropriate
enclosure has been provided to contain such fire. Nothing in this
section shall prevent any employee and/or agent of the Borough from
burning trash upon public ground when such burning is in furtherance
of any municipal purpose, such as maintaining clean and trash-free
public grounds.
B.
No person shall set, start, feed, permit to burn or maintain any
fire within an unsafe distance, and no less than 20 feet, from any
building, structure, roadway or property line. Cooking grills and
pleasure fireproof containers may be permitted, when safe, to be within
20 feet of a building or structure.
C.
No fire shall be set, started, fed, permitted to burn or maintained
where such fire may endanger any building or property, except where
such building or property is used by a volunteer fire department serving
the Borough for training purposes.
D.
No fire shall be set, started, fed, permitted to burn or maintained
where such fire, smoke and/or by-products may interfere with the navigation
of aircraft, or the safe travel upon any roadway or sidewalk or cause
a private and/or public nuisance.
E.
No fire shall be set, started, fed, permitted to burn, or be maintained
between sunset and sunrise, with the exception of cooking, recreational
or ceremonial fires.
A.
No fire shall be allowed to burn without a responsible adult being
present at all times and without a readily available fire-extinguishing
apparatus, such as a water hose. Sand or dirt may also qualify as
a fire extinguishing apparatus if shovels and rakes are on hand.
B.
No fire shall be permitted to burn whenever drought or extreme weather
conditions exist or when a ban on burning has been placed into effect
by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or other competent governmental
body. Borough Council may prohibit any and/or all outdoor fires when
atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make such fires hazardous.
C.
No fire shall be set that is likely to result in the uncontrolled
burning of vegetation or property.
D.
All fires shall be confined in a noncombustible container, covered
with a wire screen or mesh of no greater than one-half inch openings,
or a perimeter enclosure, with the exception of leaf, brush, recreational,
ceremonial or cooking fires.
It shall be unlawful to set, start, feed, permit or maintain
any fire containing construction debris, plastics, rubber, manufacturing
or commercial by-products or wastes, any hazardous substance as defined
by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any other competent governmental
body, or any substance that is not readily combustible.
It is a violation of this article for any person to allow any
fire to burn under adverse weather conditions or during any time a
burning ban declared by the Borough Council, County of Westmoreland,
or a commonwealth agency is in effect, or unsupervised or otherwise
in an unsafe manner or as an uncontrolled fire. Any person on a property
where a fire is burning under adverse weather conditions, unsupervised
or otherwise in an unsafe manner as an uncontrolled fire or otherwise
in violation of this article shall extinguish such outdoor fire immediately
upon the request of the Enforcement Officer, a police officer, or
any member of a volunteer fire company which has been called to the
property. Failure to extinguish such outdoor fire upon such a request
is a violation of this article. If no person is on such property,
or if such person refuses to or cannot otherwise extinguish the fire
upon request of the Enforcement Officer, police officer, or a firefighter,
such Enforcement Officer, police officer or firefighter may take all
appropriate action to extinguish the fire.
A.
Prohibition of residential incinerators. No device or apparatus utilized
for the process of burning shall be used as an incinerator for the
burning of refuse materials. It shall not be unlawful for any furnace,
wood-burning stove or fireplace to be utilized for the burning of
traditional fossil fuels, including but not limited to oil, coal,
gas or wood, for the purpose of home heating; provided, however, that
the burning of any solid materials between the months of May and November
shall constitute incineration and does not qualify as home heat, unless
the temperature during said months shall reach below 55° F.
B.
Regulation of commercial/industrial incinerators. Any incinerator
utilized in a commercial or industrial establishment shall meet all
requirements of the 1994 National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA)
standards on incinerators, NFPA 82, Chapter 2. No such commercial
or industrial incinerator shall, after the effective date of this
article, be installed without a permit obtained from the Fire Chief.
Any application for a permit shall contain sufficient information
to identify that said commercial or industrial incinerator and the
area upon which it shall be constructed shall meet the NFPA standards.
The Fire Chief shall inspect the incinerator's final installation
and thereafter issue a certificate of acceptance.
In the event that it is necessary to have an uncontained fire
of a size and/or at a time other than that permitted under this article,
the landowner must obtain special permission in advance from the Enforcement
Officer and the Fire Chief (or his designee) of the volunteer fire
company providing service to the area in which the property is located.
The Enforcement Officer, Fire Chief and any police officer shall
have the power to enforce any provisions of this article. Borough
Council specifically authorizes the Enforcement Officer to issue citations
to enforce this article.
A.
Any person who violates any provisions of this article, upon conviction
thereof by summary proceedings, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of
not less than $50, nor more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution
for the first such conviction, and no less than $100, nor more than
$1,000, plus costs of prosecution for the second or subsequent violation.
In the event the violator is in default of payment of such fines and
costs, by imprisonment for not more than 30 days. Each separate violation
of any section(s) of this article shall constitute a separate offense.
B.
No penalty herein shall prevent the Borough from enforcing this article
by equitable, injunctive and other remedies.
The Borough and its agents, officials and representatives shall
not, under any circumstances, be liable or responsible for damages
caused to any person or property by reason of the provisions of this
article or by reason of the conduct of any burning activity in compliance
with the terms and provisions of this article. The individual person
or persons responsible for any such fire shall bear sole liability
for any damages caused as a result thereof.
