[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Barrett as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 6-8-1988 by Ord.
No. 94]
A.
The Supervisors of Barrett Township may declare a fire ban emergency
in Barrett Township with or without consultation with the Fire Chiefs
of the volunteer fire companies operating within the Township during
periods of drought, or other periods of high fire risk to woodlands
or property within Barrett Township.
B.
Upon the Supervisors declaring a fire ban emergency, all outdoor
burning or fires shall be prohibited until said ban is lifted by the
Supervisors.
The Township shall publish a notice of the fire ban emergency
at least once in a local newspaper of general circulation. In addition,
the Township may issue news releases to all communication media, including
radio, television and newspapers.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person, persons, or entity violating this article by burning
or starting any outdoor fire during a fire ban emergency shall, upon
conviction in a summary proceeding brought before a Magisterial District
Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty
of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more
than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof,
the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding
90 days. Each day or portion thereof that such violation continues
or is permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense, and
each section of this article that is violated shall also constitute
a separate offense.
All ordinances or parts thereof inconsistent herewith are hereby
repealed.
[Adopted 11-8-2006 by Ord. No. 146]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Barrett
Township Outdoor Burning Regulations Ordinance."
It is against public policy to permit uncontrolled and unrestricted
outdoor burning. The purpose of this article 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.
For the purposes of this article, the following words and terms
shall have the meanings ascribed to them herein:
Any fire contained in an incinerator, fireplace or cooking
grill or other contained enclosure designed for outdoor cooking, or
a fireproof container.
The Fire Chief or Assistant Chief of the Barrett Township
Volunteer Fire Company, Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department,
the Barrett Township Zoning Officer and any other Barrett Township
official designated by the Board of Supervisors shall be enforcement
officers under this article.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
Any fire set or maintained outside of a building.
Any individual, partnership, organization, association, agency,
firm, estate, or corporation and any other legal or commercial entity.
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.
Any fire not included in the definition of a "contained fire."
A.
Compliance with ordinance:
B.
Public roads and public properties. No person shall set start, feed,
permit to burn or maintain any fire upon any of the streets, sidewalks,
alleys or public grounds in Barrett Township, except where a designated
area has been set aside or reserved for this purpose and an appropriate
container has been provided to contain such fire.
C.
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 or property, except where
such building or property is used by the 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, property line, or road
line.
(4)
Nothing 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.
D.
Control of burning and unattended fires.
(1)
No fire shall be allowed to burn unattended without a responsible
adult being present at all times and without readily available fire
extinguishing apparatus.
(2)
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 Board of Supervisors may prohibit any and all outdoor fires
when atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make such fires
hazardous.
(3)
No fire shall be set that results in uncontrolled burning of vegetation
(field fire).
(4)
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 leaves, brush, and/or
natural, untreated wood which need not be confined to or covered by
a noncombustible container.
E.
Extinguishing unsafe fires. It is a violation of this article for
any person to allow any fire to burn during a burning ban, under adverse
weather conditions or otherwise in an unsafe manner. Any such fire
may be extinguished by an official of the Township-designated Fire
Company or extinguished immediately upon request of such official.
F.
Unlawful substances.
(1)
Burning of construction debris, plastics, clothes, by-products of
manufacturing and processing operations, and wastes from commercial
operations and other similar items is strictly prohibited.
(2)
Nothing 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[1] or other legislation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
or the United States of America or any other competent body.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 4001 et seq.
(3)
No garbage or offal may be burned at any time either indoors or outdoors.
(4)
Fires shall be used only to burn readily combustible materials.
G.
Special circumstances. In the event that it is necessary to have
an uncontained fire of a size and/or at times other than permitted
under this article, special permission must be obtained in advance
from the Fire Chief the Barrett Township Volunteer Fire Company or
his designee. In the event any Fire Company is required to respond
to a fire which violates the provisions of this article, a service
fee may be levied by the responding Fire Company.
A.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this article shall,
upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before a Magisterial
District Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure,
be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of
not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution. In default of payment
thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding 90 days. Each day or portion thereof that such violation
continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute a separate
offense, and each section of this article that is violated shall also
constitute a separate offense.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
B.
Liability. The Township of Barrett 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 party responsible for any such
fire shall bear sole liability for any damages caused as a result
thereof.
The provisions of this article are severable. If any sentence,
clause or section is for any reason found to be unconstitutional,
illegal or invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of
any of the remaining provisions of this article. It is hereby declared
as the legislative intent that this article would have been adopted
had such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid provisions had not been
included herein.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith shall
be and the same are hereby repealed.
This article shall take effect five days after it is adopted.
