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Copyright © 1993: City of St. John's,
St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
Important Information
(Includes disclaimer and copyright information and details about the availability of printed and electronic versions of the By-Laws.) |
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Under and by virtue of the powers conferred by Section 340.4 of the City of St. John's Act, Chapter C-17 of the 1990 Revised Statutes of Newfoundland, the St. John's Municipal Council in regular session convened on this 3rd day of May, A.D., 1993, hereby passes and enacts the following for the purpose of prohibiting open air fires in the City of St. John's except in accordance with these regulations:
REGULATIONS
1. These regulations may be cited as the St. John's Open Air Fire Regulations.
2. In these regulations:
(a) "Chief" means Chief of the St. John's Regional Fire Department;
(b) "City" means the City of St. John's;
(c) “Fire Chief” means Chief/Director of Regional Fire and Emergency Services of the St. John’s Regional Fire Department. (Amended 2024/07/09; #1665)
(d) "Fire Department" means the SJRFD (St. John's Regional Fire Department); (Amended 2024/07/09; #1665)
(e) "Open Air Fire" means any fire that is burning freely or has the potential to spread or a fire set in a containment unit that does not meet the requirements of a outdoor wood burning appliance;
(Amended 2006/09/11; #1498, Amended 2024/07/09; #1665)
(f) “Outdoor Wood Burning Appliance” means an appliance that:
(i) Is enclosed on all sides and constructed of masonry, concrete, heavy gauge metal or other noncombustible materials;
(ii) is at least 15 cm in height above the surrounding grade but no more than 60 cm in depth when measured from the top of the appliance opening to the bottom of the appliance;
(iii) has an opening that does not exceed 75 cm in diameter or an area of 0.46 m² and in which neither the width nor length is greater than 75 cm; and
(iv) has a spark arrestor, grille, or mesh with openings no larger than 12 mm and which is used to cover the entire area of the fire pit opening. (Amended 2024/07/09; #1665)
(g) ‘Permit” means permit for an open-air fire issued by the SJRFD. (Amended 2024/07/09; #1665)
(h) “Seasoned Wood” means wood that has been allowed to dry and acclimate to the surrounding environment and is clean, unpainted, and untreated. (Amended 2024/07/09; #1665)
(i) "Spark arrester” (sometimes spark arrestor) is any device which prevents the emission of flammable debris from combustion sources. (Amended 2024/07/09; #1665)
3. No person or persons shall cause, set, light or otherwise ignite an open air fire within the boundaries of the City without first applying for and obtaining a permit from the Chief of the St. John's Regional Fire Department.
3.1 Permit Not Required
(1) Outdoor wood burning appliances shall not be operated where wind speeds are in excess of 20 km per hour.
(2) Outdoor wood burning appliances shall be:
(a) installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s installation instructions, if supplied;
(b) located at least 4.5 meters from any building, structure or combustible material;
(c) capable of completely containing/enclosing the fire;
(d) placed on a firm and level surface which has a non-combustible base beneath it, a minimum of 0.5 m completely outside the perimeter of the unit;
(e) attended at all times by someone 18 years of age or older with access to a fire extinguisher, bucket of water or another water source while the fire is burning;
(f) used to burn only seasoned wood; and
(g) extinguished prior to non-attendance.”
(Amended 2006/09/11; #1498; Amended 2024/07/24;1665)
3.2 Notwithstanding sections 3 and 3.1 herein, where a prohibition on the setting of fires in relation to forest lands within or adjacent to the boundary of the City of St. John’s has been proclaimed pursuant to section 99 of the Forestry Act, RSNL 1990 c. F-23, as amended, and remains in effect, no person or persons shall cause, set, light or otherwise ignite an Open Air Fire, or any fire in an outdoor wood burning appliance, or any other outdoor wood or gas burning unit within the boundaries of the City.”
(b) Repealed
(Amended 2015/05/19; #1575; Amended 2024/07/9; #1665)
4. A permit shall be in the form prescribed in Schedule "A" to these regulations and may be issued by a member of the Fire Department or other person authorized by the Chief.
5. The Chief, a member of the Fire Department, or a person authorized by the Chief may include in a permit those terms and conditions that he or she considers appropriate or may refuse to issue.
6. A permit may, by oral or written notice be cancelled or suspended at any time by the Chief, a member of the Fire Department or a person authorized by the Chief and upon receiving notice of a cancellation or suspension, the permit holder shall immediately extinguish any fire caused, set, lit or otherwise ignited under the permit.
7. The holder of a permit who causes, sets, lights or otherwise ignites an open air fire shall take every reasonable and reasonably foreseeable precaution to prevent the fire from spreading and shall not leave the fire unattended until it is extinguished.
8. The possession of a permit does not discharge the person to whom it is issued from responsibility for damage resulting from an open air fire caused, set, lit or otherwise ignited by that person.
9. A site inspection is required for the issuance of a permit. The Applicant shall contact the SJRFD Fire Prevention Division to schedule a site inspection. If all guidelines and conditions identified in this by-law are met during the site inspection, the permit may be issued.
A person to whom a permit is issued shall keep a copy of the permit on the site where the burning is taking place. The Permit issued must be presented by the Permittee upon request by any SJRFD Fire Inspector, Fire Officer, Fire Captain, or other representative. (Amended 2024/07/09; #1665)
10. Any person who contravenes the provisions of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and liable upon summary conviction to a penalty as provided for in Section 403 of the City of St. John’s Act, or where a violation notice is issued, to a penalty as provided for in Section 403.2 of the City of St. John’s Act. (Amended 11/05/2007; #1508)
11. In the event of any person failing to do anything which under these Regulations he or she ought to have done, the Fire Department may do that act and recover the expenses thereof from the person so in default as a civil debt.
PERMIT FOR OPEN AIR FIRE
(Form #04-02-18) (Issued Under The City of St. John's Open Air Fire Regulations)
Permit # __________________________
This permit authorizes ___________________(name) of ______________________(address) __________________________ (telephone)
to burn on City land/private land at __________________________________________________________________________(place of fire or display)
between ____________________ (y/m/d) and ____________________ (y/m/d), both days inclusive/between o'clock a.m. and __________ o'clock __ p.m. on the __________________________ (y/m/d)
Prior to burning please notify the ISSUED BY: __________________________
St. John's Regional Fire on behalf of the Fire Chief/Director
Department at 722-1234 of the St. John's Regional Fire Department
CONDITIONS
- The Permittee shall have at the location of the fire, one (1) person(s) and adequate fire fighting equipment and water supply for use to extinguish the fire if it becomes necessary.
- The fire shall not exceed 1.5 square metres.
- No more than one (1) fire shall be burning at any one time.
- The fire shall be 15 metres from all brush, debris or combustible materials.
- The Permittee shall not set or permit a fire to burn during periods of high or extreme Fire Weather Index or in winds over 20 kilometres per hour.
- Under no circumstances does this permit relieve the Permittee of liability for injury, loss, damages, costs or otherwise which may be caused by fire(s) lit under this permit.
- This permit may be cancelled or suspended at any time by the Director/Fire Chief of the St. John's Regional Fire Department, a member of the Fire Department, or a person authorized by the Director/Fire Chief.
- A person who fails to comply with the provisions and conditions of this permit is guilty of an offence contrary to Section 10 of the City of St. John's Open Air Fire Regulations.
- A copy of the permit for open air fire is to be on site where the burning is taking place and must be shown when requested by a member of the St. John's Regional Fire Department.
- The permit is not transferable or otherwise assignable by the Permittee.
- The permit becomes void if a ban on open air fires is declared by an authorizing agency.
- The permit does not allow for the burning of heavy oils, items containing natural or synthetic rubber, animal carcasses or animal wastes, asphaltic products, waste petroleum, paints, plastics, aerosol cans, electrical wiring, treated wood products or any other material other than plant growth, paper products or untreated wood construction wastes.
DURING FOREST FIRE SEASON, A PERMIT FOR OPEN AIR FIRE IS ALSO REQUIRED FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES (729-4183).
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