[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Eureka
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 5-9-2011 by Ord.
No. 2011-03 (Ordinance 5, Ch. 5, of the 2005 Code)]
The Town Board of Eureka Township finds that local regulation
of open burning is necessary to reduce the incidence of hazardous
and illegal fires within the Township and to safeguard the health
and safety of the Town's citizens. The Board further finds that the
costs attributable to fire calls from the Town's contract Fire Departments
are increasing annually, and that recovery of fire call costs from
those responsible for illegal or negligent fires is necessary to protect
the Town's taxpayers.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A container approved by the Commissioner of the Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources for the burning of vegetative material,
around which the ground five feet from the base of the burner has
been cleared of all combustible material.
A fire set for cooking, warming, or ceremonial purposes,
which is not more than three feet in diameter by three feet high,
and has had the ground five feet from the base of the fire cleared
of all combustible material.
The Fire Marshal of the Fire Department contractually responsible
for responding to and investigating a fire, based upon the fire's
location within the Township.
A fire set for the burning of matter, whether concentrated
or dispersed, which is not contained within a fully enclosed firebox,
structure or vehicle and from which the smoke and other products of
combustion are emitted directly to the open air without passing through
a stack, duct or chimney.
[Amended 11-9-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-05]
The ground surrounding the immediate area of the fire has
a continuous unbroken cover of snow, to a depth of three inches or
more, sufficient to keep the fire from spreading.
No person shall cause, allow or permit open burning within the
Township without first obtaining a permit from the Fire Marshal responsible
for the property on which the fire is intended to burn. The decision
to approve or deny a request for an open burning permit lies in the
professional judgment and sole discretion of the responsible Fire
Marshal.
The following fires shall not require an open burning permit:
A.
General. No person shall conduct, cause, or permit open burning of
rubber, plastics, chemically treated materials, oil, or other materials
which produce excessive or noxious smoke, including but not limited
to tires, railroad ties, chemically treated lumber, composite shingles,
tar paper, insulation, composition board, sheetrock, wiring, paint,
or paint filters.
(1)
The Town Board, or another board of health exercising jurisdiction
in the Township, may authorize burning one or more of the materials
listed above after determining that doing so is necessary to abate
a public health nuisance.
(2)
The Commissioner of the Pollution Control Agency may specifically
authorize the open burning of oil as an emergency response to an oil
spill.
B.
Hazardous waste. No person shall conduct, cause, or permit open burning
of hazardous waste as defined in M.S.A. § 116.06, Subdivision
11.
C.
Industrial solid waste. No person shall conduct, cause, or permit
open burning of solid waste generated from an industrial or manufacturing
process or from a service or commercial structure.
D.
Demolition debris. No person shall conduct, cause, or permit open
burning of burnable building material generated from demolition of
commercial or institutional structures. A farm building is not a commercial
structure.
E.
Salvage operations. No person shall conduct, cause, or permit salvage
operations by open burning.
F.
Motor vehicles. No person shall conduct, cause, or permit the processing
of motor vehicles by open burning.
G.
Garbage. No person shall conduct, cause, or permit open burning of
discarded material resulting from the handling, processing, storage,
preparation, serving, or consumption of food.
A.
Burning ban. No person shall conduct, cause, or permit open burning
during a burning ban put into effect by the Town, county, or a state
department or agency.
B.
Smoldering fires. Fires must not be allowed to smolder with no flame
present, except when conducted for the purpose of managing forests,
prairies, or wildlife habitats.
C.
Failure to extinguish a fire. Any person who starts a fire must control
or extinguish the fire, whether on owned property or on the property
of another, before the fire endangers or causes damage to the property
of another person or of the public.
D.
Failure to control a permitted fire. Any person who has a burning
permit must keep the permitted fire contained within the area described
on the burning permit and keep the fire restricted to the materials
specifically listed on the burning permit.
E.
Careless or negligent fires. No person shall carelessly or negligently
start a fire that endangers or causes damage to the property of another
person or of the public.
F.
Careless or negligent acts. No person shall participate in an act
involving careless or negligent use of motor vehicles, other internal
combustion engines, firearms with tracers or combustible wads, fireworks,
smoking materials, electric fences, torches, flares, or other burning
or smoldering substances whereby a fire is started and is not immediately
extinguished before the fire endangers or causes damage to the property
of another person or of the public.
When a fire within the Township results in a call for fire department
services, the Fire Marshal of the responding department shall determine
whether the fire was started, maintained, or allowed to burn in violation
of this article. If the Fire Marshal makes such a determination, the
Town Clerk shall assess a fire call charge to the property on which
the fire took place, in an amount established by the Town Board by
separate resolution. A property owner aggrieved by the charge may
petition the Town Board within 30 days of receiving the notice of
charge to request that the charge be forgiven. The Town Board, in
its sole discretion, may forgive a charge for a fire call upon finding
that the ordinance violation was not attributable to the acts or omissions
of an owner, lessee, occupant, or invitee on the property. On or before
October 15 of each year, the Town Clerk shall certify all fire call
charge balances outstanding for more than 30 days to the County Auditor
for collection with property taxes levied against the property.
[Amended 11-9-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-05]
Violation of any portion of § 136-3, 136-5 or 136-6 of this article is a misdemeanor and subject to the penalty provisions prescribed in § 1-5 of this Code. The filing of a misdemeanor complaint shall not preclude the Town from pursuing other legal remedies related to the violation of this article, including but not limited to criminal charges under Minnesota statutes and the assessment and collection of a fire call fee as described in § 136-7.
If any section, clause, provision, or portion of this article
is adjudged unconstitutional or invalid by a court of law, the remainder
of this article shall not be affected and shall remain in full force.
