[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Moore as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 8-2-1988 by Ord. No. 1988-4]
[Amended 11-10-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-4]
A. 
When deemed necessary, the Township Manager, or, in the absence of the Township Manager, the Emergency Management Coordinator, in consultation with the Fire Chief, shall be authorized to impose a temporary ban, not to exceed 30 days, upon all outdoor burning or fires, which bans shall operate to prohibit outdoor fires and burning otherwise authorized by this article.
B. 
The Board of Supervisors may place a ban or extend a temporary ban for a period of no longer than 120 days, unless extended by further action of the Board of Supervisors.
C. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to burn or cause or allow to be burned any materials, or the lighting of or use of fireworks, during the term of the burning ban.
D. 
Exception: Prescribed burning for the purpose of reducing the impact of wildland fire when authorized by the Emergency Management Coordinator.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III)]
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.
[Adopted 12-3-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-09]
This article shall be known and cited as the "Moore Township Burning 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:
CONTAINED FIRE
Any fire contained in an incinerator, fireplace or cooking grill or other contained enclosure designed for outdoor cooking, or a fireproof container.
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
The Moore Township Police Department or Chief of the Klecknersville Rangers Fire Company ("Fire Chief") (and/or Chief's duly appointed agent) shall be designated enforcement officers under this article.
FIRE
Any fire set or maintained outside of a building.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, organization, association, agency, firm, estate, or corporation and any other legal or commercial entity.
RESPONSIBLE ADULT
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.
UNCONTAINED FIRE
Any fire not included in the definition of "contained fire."
A. 
Compliance with article.
(1) 
It shall be unlawful to burn, ignite, incinerate, maintain or permit to burn any materials whatsoever, of whatever nature, without complying with this article.
(2) 
Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent firefighting training by Township-designated firefighting organizations.
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 Moore 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 bum 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) 
Out-of-door fires shall be permitted only upon private property and shall take place at least 25 feet from any structure and at least 15 feet from any 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 five 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, such as rakes, shovels, fire extinguishers, and readily available on-site water.
(2) 
No fire shall be permitted to burn whenever drought, high winds, 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) 
Out-of-door fires shall be confined in a noncombustible container, covered with a wire screen of one-half-inch or smaller mesh, except for fires of natural or untreated wood which need not be confined to or covered by a noncombustible container. However, a reasonable area must be cleared around the burn site of any fire which need not be confined to or covered by a noncombustible container.
(5) 
Prior to the start of an out-door fire which need not be confined to or covered by a noncombustible container, the property owner upon whose land the fire will be located, shall notify the Moore Township Police Department dispatcher of the burn, the name and address of the property owner, and the materials to be burned. The dispatcher shall also be notified by the property owner when the burn is completed.
E. 
Extinguishing unsafe fires. It is a violation of this article for any person to allow any fire to burn under adverse weather conditions or unsupervised, or otherwise in an unsafe manner. Any such fire may be extinguished by an official of the Township-designated Fire Company or the Township Police Department or the Fire Chief or shall be extinguished immediately upon request of such official by the property owner or his or her authorized representative.
F. 
Hours.
(1) 
No person shall burn or cause to be burned any paper, boxes, rubbish or any other kind of substance, nor shall any person or persons set or maintain any uncontained fire, or burn or cause to be burned an uncontained fire of any substance or material of any kind, out-or-doors, anywhere in Moore Township between sunset and sunrise.
(2) 
Contained fires shall not be permitted to burn or smolder between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.
(3) 
Recreational fires using natural, untreated wood and containing a fuel source of no more that eight cubic feet are permitted at any time so long as they comply with all other provisions of this article.
G. 
Unlawful substances.
(1) 
Burning of construction debris, pressure treated wood or wood products, plastics, by-products of manufacturing and processing operations, and wastes from commercial operations is strictly prohibited. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, burning of untreated wood and paper is permitted as further set forth in this article.
(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 public agency.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 42 U.S.C. § 7401 et seq.
(3) 
No garbage or offal may be burned at any time either indoors or out of doors.
(4) 
Fires shall be used only to burn readily combustible materials.
H. 
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 of the Moore Township Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 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. III)]
B. 
Equitable and other remedies. No penalty herein shall prevent the Township from enforcing this article by equitable, injunctive and other remedies.
C. 
Liability. Moore Township 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 shall be severable, and if any provision hereof shall be declared 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 a legislative intent of the Township that this article would have been amended as if such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid provision or provisions had not been included herein.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances conflicting or inconsistent with the provisions of this article, including but not limited to Ordinance No. 1997-2, are hereby repealed.