[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]
The Board of Supervisors, may upon their own motion or upon
advice of the Township Fire Chief and/or Chief of Police, place a
ban upon all outdoor burning of brush, debris, garbage or refuse of
any kind throughout the Township, providing the Board of Supervisors
first makes a determination that such burning constitutes a hazard
or threat to the community. Said restrictions are to be of a temporary
nature, and shall extend for a period of no longer than 120 days unless
extended by further action of the Board of Supervisors.
[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:
Any fire contained in an incinerator, fireplace or cooking
grill or other contained enclosure designed for outdoor cooking, or
a fireproof container.
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.
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 "contained fire."
A.
Compliance with article.
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.
This article shall become effective five days after enactment.
