WESTFIELD—A draft ordinance amendment related to the use of fire pits has been presented by At-Large City Councilor Dan Allie.
The draft, which Allie said was created with the assistance of the city’s law department over the summer and includes input from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), addresses the use of fire pits, chimeneas and outdoor fireplaces within the city. Allie said that input is now being sought on the draft, including from the Westfield Fire Department, but he wants to avoid excessive fines and over-regulation in the ordinance.
“We have to be very careful in writing an ordinance protecting property but also over-regulation and excessive fines,” Allie said.
Metal Fire Pit (WNG File photo)
According to Allie, the city created a previous ordinance in April 2016 that was passed by city council and signed by Mayor Brian Sullivan that exempted certain items like fire pits, outdoor fireplaces and chimeneas from the open burning regulations.
However, MassDEP could not approve the measure due to how open burning is defined and because some of the items fall under open burning, according to Allie. He also said that fines for not following regulations could start at $1,000 currently, and increase in cost with each fine.
According to Deputy Chief Pat Egloff of the Westfield Fire Department, open burning has regulations under Massachusetts General Law and Massachusetts Code of Regulations.
Currently according to open burning regulations, if a resident wanted to open burn a permit must be acquired from their local fire department and may only burn from Jan. 15 to May 1, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Also, all burning must take place 75 feet from all buildings.
Dan Allie
“Only something with a chimney or flute is not open burning,” Allie said.
“The ordinance on the books basically cannot be enforced, so right now it’s like having no ordinance,” he added. “What we’re trying to do is break out fire pits.”
So, he said that he worked with Meghan Bristol from the city’s law department to craft the new ordinance over the summer.
“Meghan and I worked over the summer, she drafted something, MassDEP added some things,” Allie said. “So, we wrote something that is tentatively approved that we can work on.”
According to Bristol, the input that was received from MassDEP was incorporated into the draft, but it was minor.
Then, last week during the City Council Public Health and Safety Committee’s Sept. 21 meeting, Allie revealed the draft for the first time and opened it to public meeting, which included the law department and fire department in attendance. This allows for others to give input on the draft, including the Westfield Fire Department, who Allie is looking to work with.
One of the largest points for the fire department is the distance from buildings suggested. In the draft, 20 feet from structures is the minimum distance allowed and that was also the previous distance.
According to Westfield Fire Deputy Chief Egloff, his department is comfortable with the 75-foot distance from buildings required in open burning if it were to be applied to other burning activities, but does not support any lower than 50 feet.
“We are not comfortable with anything less than 50 [feet]. This is about a life safety issue. If you have fire pits less than 50 feet from buildings in downtown it puts the risk of a fire way up,” Egloff said.
“I don’t think the fire department can recommend anything less than 50 feet,” he added.
The department’s input was requested during the previous ordinance’s creation, and Egloff said that they suggested the same distances then.
“If they want to allow it within 20 feet of a dwelling, that’s any dwelling,” Egloff said. “That could be near your neighbor’s house.”
Risk of this, according to Egloff, could pertain to health and safety. If a person has a breathing condition as an example, then the smoke could worsen it, and if a spark jumps from the fire and onto something flammable like leaves, it could catch siding on fire and cause damage to a home or worse.
This risk though, according to Egloff, could be mitigated with the greater distance away.
Other items within the draft include the need for attendance at the outdoor burning devices, that it must be on a “flat surface of sandy or gravelly land” or other non-combustible material away from vegetation. Also, no burning of construction material, trash, “grass, hay, leaves, stumps and tires is prohibited,” in the draft.
In addition, fines in the draft for not complying start at $50, with $75 fine for the second offense and $100 for each offense after that.
Allie said that the draft will continue to be worked on, with suggestions taken into consideration and modifications being made as it goes along.
“I’m going to go through that thing with a fine-tooth comb,” he said.
The next steps in the process, according to Bristol, will include that if the ordinance amendment is approved by the Public Health and Safety Committee, it will then head to City Council’s Legislative and Ordinance Committee, as well as a public hearing that will be held that must be advertised twice before it occurs. Then, it will appear before City Council for approval.
From there, if City Council approves, then MassDEP must approve.
