[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Monessen 6-9-2020 by Ord. No. 3-2020. Amendments noted where applicable.]
It is against public policy to permit uncontrolled and unrestricted
outdoor burning. The purpose of this chapter is to prevent needless
public damage to life and property because of public and private nuisances
caused by outdoor fires deliberately or carelessly set and maintained.
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the City of Monessen to
safeguard the residents of the City of Monessen from such air pollution,
damage, and injury.
The following terms, words, and phrases, whenever used in this
chapter, shall be construed and defined as follows:
Any fire contained in an incinerator, furnace, fireplace,
or other contained enclosure designed for outdoor cooking, or a noncombustible
container with a flue or wire screen of 1/2 inch or smaller mesh.
Any enclosed device specifically designed for burning any
material for the production of heat.
All putrescible animal and vegetable matter resulting from
the handling, preparation, cooking, and consumption of food.
Any device specifically designed for the destruction by burning
of refuse, sewage sludge, or any combustible material.
Any fire not included in the meaning of "contained fire."
Any individual, partnership, association, corporation, company,
department, bureau, agency, or legal entity.
Garbage, rubbish, and trade waste.
An individual 18 years or older who is not under the influence
of drugs or alcohol or suffering from any other disability which would
impair his or her ability to properly supervise a fire.
Household and domestic solids not considered to be highly
flammable or explosive, including, but not limited to, rags, old clothes,
leather, rubber, carpets, excelsior, ashes, furniture, tin cans, glass,
crockery, masonry, plastics, recyclable items, and other similar items.
Any business, trade or industry engaged in whole or in part
in salvaging or reclaiming any product or material, including, but
not limited to, metals, chemicals, shipping containers or drums.
All solid or liquid material or rubbish resulting from construction,
building operations, or the prosecution of any business, trade or
industry, including, but not limited to, plastic products, cartons,
paint, grease, oil, and other petroleum products, chemicals, cinders,
and other forms of solid or liquid waste materials; provided that
"trade waste" shall not include any coal refuse associated with mining
or preparation of coal.
The following regulations shall apply to all open fires set,
used, or burning within the City of Monessen:
B.
Permitted recreational fires exception. Recreational
fires using natural, untreated wood and containing a fuel source of
no more than four cubic feet are permitted at any time so long as
they comply with all other provisions of this chapter and all other
ordinances of the City of Monessen.
C.
Permitted open fires. No person may permit open
fires on his, her, or its property with the exception of the following,
and in accordance with all other limitations in this chapter:
(1)
Open fires set and used solely for recreational or ceremonial purposes, or set and used only for cooking, subject to the limitations hereinbefore, including, without limitation, Subsection B herein;
(2)
Open fires set and used to prevent or abate a
fire hazard, when approved by Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection and set by or under the supervision of a public officer;
(3)
Open fires set and used for the purpose of instructing
personnel in fire fighting;
(4)
Open fires set and used for the prevention and
control of disease or pests, when approved by the respective fire
department of the City;
(5)
Open fires for the conservation and management
of unique and natural areas and/or for the reduction of fuel loads,
when approved by the respective fire department of the City; or
(6)
Open fires used as a management technique for
preventing wildfires, scientific research, or vegetation management,
when approved by the respective fire department of the City.
The following regulations shall apply to all contained fires
and open fires set, used, or burning within the City of Monessen:
A.
Public property. No person shall set start, feed,
permit to burn, or maintain any fire upon any of the streets, sidewalks,
alleys, or public grounds in the City of Monessen, except with the
approval of the City Council or the Chief of Police or where a designated
area has been set aside or reserved for this purpose and an appropriate
container has been provided to contain such fire.
B.
Safe distances.
(1)
It shall be unlawful to allow any fire, including
cooking, within an unsafe distance from any building or property line.
(2)
No fire shall be set, started, fed, permitted
to burn, or maintained where such fire may endanger any building,
structure, or property, except where such building, structure, or
property is used by a fire department for training purposes.
(3)
Outdoor fires shall be permitted only upon private
property and shall take place at least 20 feet from any building,
structure, property line, or road line.
(4)
Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to prohibit
indoor cooking activities providing that reasonable safeguards are
maintained.
(5)
Cooking grills may be less than 20 feet from a
building providing that reasonable safeguards are maintained.
C.
Control of burning and unattended fires.
(1)
No fire shall be permitted to burn in a manner
that causes or enables smoke, smoke odors, ash, sparks, or embers
to cross onto other properties or streets, sidewalks, alleys, or public
grounds either in the immediate vicinity of or within 20 feet of any
building, structure, tree, or vegetation.
(2)
No fire shall be permitted to burn unattended
without a responsible adult being present at all times and without
a readily available fire-extinguishing apparatus.
(3)
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. The City Council may prohibit any
and all outdoor fires when atmospheric conditions or local circumstances
make such fires hazardous.
(4)
No fire shall be set that results or is likely
to result in uncontrolled burning of vegetation.
(5)
Outdoor fires shall be confined in a noncombustible
container, covered with a wire screen of one-half-inch or smaller
mesh, or in other suitable noncombustible container, except for fires
of grass and/or natural, untreated wood which need not be confined
to or covered by a noncombustible container.
(6)
Open fires must be extinguished thoroughly with
no smoldering.
D.
Unlawful substances.
(1)
Burning of construction debris, plastics, aerosol
cans, byproducts of manufacturing and processing operations, and wastes
from commercial operations is strictly prohibited.
(2)
Nothing contained herein shall be construed to
permit or encourage the burning of any substance determined by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the United States Environmental Protection
Agency to be a hazardous substance; nor shall any fire be permitted
to burn by any person if such burning is in violation of the Air Pollution
Control Act or other legislation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
or the United States of America or any other competent body.
(3)
No refuse, garbage, offal, recyclables, or trade
waste may be burned at any time either indoors or outdoors.
(4)
Fires shall be used only to burn readily combustible
materials.
E.
Special circumstances. In the event that it is
necessary to have an uncontrolled fire of any size, special permission
must be obtained in advance from any official or person designated
by ordinance or resolution of the City Council.
A.
It shall be unlawful to burn, ignite, incinerate,
maintain, or permit to burn any materials whatsoever, of whatever
nature, without complying with this chapter.
B.
Nothing contained herein shall be construed to
prevent firefighting training by City-designated firefighting organizations.
C.
Any fire in violation of this chapter may be extinguished
by an official of a City-designated firefighting organization, the
City Code Enforcement Officer, or an officer of the City Police Department.
A.
The City Council may declare a fire ban emergency
in the City of Monessen with or without consultation with the Fire
Chiefs or other personnel of the fire companies operating within the
City of Monessen during period of drought, or other periods of high
fire risk to woodlands or property within the City of Monessen.
B.
Upon the City Council's declaring a fire ban
emergency, all outdoor burning or fires shall be prohibited until
the ban is lifted by the City Council.
C.
The City of Monessen shall publish a notice of
the fire ban emergency at least once in a local newspaper of general
circulation. In addition, the City of Monessen may issue news releases
to all communication media, including radio, television, and newspapers.
A.
The City Council appoints and authorizes the City
Police Department and the City Code Enforcement Officer to enforce
the provisions of this chapter.
B.
The City of Monessen may issue such orders as are
necessary to aid in the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter.
These orders shall include, but shall not be limited to: orders requiring
persons to cease unlawful open burning which, in the course of its
occurrence, is in violation of any provision of this chapter, orders
to take collective action or to abate a public nuisance; orders requiring
the testing, sampling, or monitoring of any open burning; or orders
requiring production of information. Such an order may be issued if
the City of Monessen finds that any condition existing in or on the
facility or source involved is causing or contributing to open burning
or if the City of Monessen finds that any person is in violation of
any provision of this chapter.
C.
Whenever the enforcement officer finds that a contained
fire or an open fire not in compliance with this chapter is occurring
in the City of Monessen, the enforcement officer may order the owner
or operator of the property on which such fire is burning to take
corrective action in a manner satisfactory to the City of Monessen,
or the enforcement officer may order the owner or operator to allow
access to such property by the enforcement officer or a third party
to take such action.
A.
It shall be unlawful to burn, ignite, incinerate,
maintain, or otherwise permit the burning of any materials whatsoever
without complying with the requirements of this chapter. Nothing contained
herein shall be construed to prevent firefighting training by City-designated
firefighting organizations.
B.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions
of this chapter shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought
in the name of the City of Monessen, before a district justice in
the same manner provided for the enforcement of summary offenses under
the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be sentenced to pay
a fine of not less than $50 and not more than $600, plus the costs
of prosecution, and in default of payment, to imprisonment for a term
of not to exceed 90 days, provided that each day's violation
of any of the provisions of this chapter shall constitute a separate
offense.
C.
No penalty herein shall prevent the City of Monessen
from enforcing this chapter by equitable, injunctive, and other remedies.
A.
In the case of a fire requiring firefighters and/or
equipment and upon conviction of any violation of this chapter, the
violator shall also pay charges in order to cover the firefighting
costs incurred by the City of Monessen or any firefighting organization
designated by the City of Monessen. Charges shall be assessed for
use of the following firefighting equipment:
B.
Additional labor charges shall be assessed under
this chapter based upon an hourly rate for all paid firemen engaged
in the firefighting activities.
C.
The City Council shall determine by resolution
a reasonable schedule of costs based upon mileage, operating costs,
and firefighting equipment and man hours rate. These charges shall
be in addition to and not in lieu of any criminal or other penalties
provided elsewhere in this chapter.
A violation of this chapter or of any order issued by the City
of Monessen under this chapter shall constitute a public nuisance.
The City of Monessen shall have the authority to order any person
causing a public nuisance to abate the public nuisance. In addition,
when abating a public nuisance, the City of Monessen may recover the
expenses of abatement. Whenever the nuisance is maintained or continued
contrary to this chapter or any order issued pursuant to this chapter,
the nuisance may be abatable in the manner provided by this chapter.
Any person who causes the public nuisance shall be liable for the
cost of abatement.
The City Council 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 conduct of any burning
activity in compliance or noncompliance with the terms and provisions
hereof. The person or persons responsible for any such fire shall
bear sole liability for any damages caused as a result thereof.
Any ordinance or part of any ordinance that conflicts with the
provisions of this chapter is hereby repealed to the extent of any
such conflict on the effective date of this chapter.
If any provisions, sentence, clause, section, or part of this chapter
or application thereof to any person or circumstance is for any reason
found to be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid by a court of competent
jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality, illegality or invalidity shall
not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses,
sections, or parts of this chapter. It is hereby declared as the intent
of the City Council of the City of Monessen that this chapter would
have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid provision,
sentence, clause, section, or part not been included herein.
This chapter shall become effective 10 days after enactment.
