Town of Holyrood Open Air Fire Regulations — full text

This is the exact embedded text of the captured official document. Snapshot 0fe6972d0115 · verified 2026-06-05 · original document · archived snapshot · unofficial consolidation, the official version is held by the municipal clerk.

Open Air Fire Regulations PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY Pursuant to the powers conferred by Section 414 (2)(ee) of the Municipalities Act, 1999, the Town of Holyrood has made the following regulations. _____________________________ GARY GOOBIE MAYOR REGULATIONS 1. TITLE These regulations may be cited as the "Town of Holyrood Open Air Fire Regulations." 2. DEFINITIONS In these regulations: a) "Town" means Town of Holyrood b) "Open Air Fire" is any fire that is caused, set lit or otherwise ignited outside the confines of anybuilding. For the purpose of these Regulations, it does not include any fire which is caused, set lit or otherwise ignited in open air fireplaces, grills, barbecues or barrels. c) "Chief" means Fire Chief of the Holyrood Fire Department or other person designated by the Chief in and for the fire protection of the Town. d) "Fire Department" means the Holyrood Fire Department e) "Permit" means permit for Open Air Fire f) "Suitable Equipped" means being in possession of the tools or equipment, including without limitation, brooms, rakes, back tanks, shovels, hoses and an adequate water supply, which shall be used to contain and/or prevent the spread of a fire ignited in the open air. 3. APPLICATION OF REGULATIONS These regulations shall apply to all areas of the Town and during the entire year. 4. PERMIT 4.1 No person shall cause, set light or otherwise ignite an open-air fire within the boundaries of the town without first applying for and obtaining a permit from the District Fire Chief at the Holyrood Fire Department. 4.2 Not withstanding Section 4.1, no permit is required to burn in a barrel, provided: a) The barrel is covered with a screen with the mesh no longer than ½ inch and completely contains the fire b) The barrel is located on private property and kept at least 15 meters from the nearest woods, brush, or flammable material c) The unit rests on legs or supports and is placed on mineral soil or non-combustible material having a surface area of a minimum of 1.5 sq. meters d) The barrel is made entirely of non-combustible material, in good condition & an attendant is on sire if the fire weather index is extreme or high e) The barrel ash is totally extinguished before being discarded on mineral soil at least 14 meters from any woods, brush or flammable material 4.3 Not withstanding Section 4.1No Permit is necessary to burn an outdoor wood burning unit, provided: a) The unit is made entirely of non-combustible material b) The unit completely contains the fire c) The unit rests on legs or supports & is placed on mineral soil or non-combustible material having a surface area a minimum of 1.5sq. meters d) The unit is located a minimum of 3.5 meters from the nearest woods, brush, or other flammable mater 4.4 Where a permit is not required under Sections 4.2 and 4.3, this shall not relieve a person from the requirements set out in Section 5 of the Regulations as if they were a permit holder. 4.5 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 from the Holyrood Fire Department on Holyrood Access Road from 9am to 12 pm Monday to Friday. 4.6 In making a determination under Section 4.1 the Chief may take into consideration the following: (a) The number of permits issued on a particular day (b) The velocity of the wind (c) The general weather conditions prevalent; (d) Whether or not the applicant is suitably equipped to ensure the fire in maintained under control; (e) The proposed manner and method of burning; (f) Whether the applicant owns or is the occupant of the land upon which the burning is intended to occur, or has the written consent, produced prior to the issuance of the permit, of the owner of the land which the burning will occur; (g) Whether the applicant is 19 years of age or older and ensures that at least one other person, of 19 years of age or older, suitably equipped to control the fire, will be present while the fire is burning or smoldering; (h) Any other manner the Chief determines relevant to safety. 4.7 Where the chief determines that the purposed burning would be a hazard to safety or where there is failure to meet the requirements of these Regulations, the Chief shall refuse to issue a permit. Furthermore, where a hazard to safety has been created, The Fire Department may extinguish the fire and take any further action that is necessary to eliminate the hazard, the costs of which may be recovered from the person responsible for creating the hazard, as a civic debt. 4.8 The Chief may specify on the permit the hours of the day and the number of days during which the permit shall be valid, and in so doing, may distinguish between permits issued for commercial or other uses. 4.9 If the person attempting to obtain a permit is not the owner of the land on which the burning is intended to occur, then written consent of the owner of the land must be obtained before any permit is approved. 4.10 The Chief may include in a permit those terms and conditions that he or she considers appropriate for the permit being sought. 4.11 A permit may, by oral or written notice be cancelled or suspended at any time 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. 5 DUTIES OF PERMIT HOLDER 5.1 The holder of the permit who causes, sets lights or otherwise ignites an open air fire shall not leave the fire unattended and shall take every responsibly foreseeable precaution to prevent the fire from spreading and shall not leave the fire unattended until it is completely extinguished. 5.2 A permit holder shall not burn more than one pile of material at any given time. 5.3 A permit holder shall not ignite any fire when the wind is blowing of sufficient velocity such that it may jeopardize the permit holders' ability to control the fire. 5.4 The permit holder shall ensure that the method of burning and material burned is consistent with the information provided by the Chief when the permit was issued. 5.5 The Fire Department shall be immediately notified if the fire is or appears to be getting out of control . 5.6 No person or permit holder shall light, ignite, or start or allow or cause to be lighted, Ignited or started, a fire of any kind whatsoever in the open air without being suitably equipped to contain or extinguish the fire 5.7 The holder of the permit will not be permitted to burn any petroleum-based product, such as oil, rubber tires, plastic, shingles, electrical wire etc. 5.8 A person must not light any fire that will cause smoke from said fire to cause irritation to neighboring properties 5.9 The possession of a permit does not discharge the person to whom it is issued from responsibility for damage resulting from open-air fire. 5.10 A person to whom the permit is issued shall keep a copy of the permit on site where burning is taking place. 6. FINES 6.1 Every person who contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of these regulations shall be guilty of an offence and liable upon summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 dollars. 6.2 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 recover the expenses thereof from the person so in default as a civil debt. 6.3 The Fire Department, at the direction of the Chief, may immediately extinguish (or take any further action as may be deemed necessary), any fire for which a permi has not been issued, whether or not such fire may constitute a potential hazard. The cost of such action may be recovered from the person deemed to be in contravention of these regulations, as a civil dept. 7. COMPLIANCE WITH OTHER ACTS Nothing in these Regulations serves to exempt any person from obtaining any license, Permission, permit, authority or approval required by any other regulation of the Town Or any statue or regulation of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and in such cases where more than one regulation or statue applies the more restrictive regulation or statue shall apply. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE These Regulations shall come into force on 8th day of October 2013. In witness whereof the Seal of the Town of Holyrood has been affixed hereto and these regulations have been signed by Mayor and the Town Manager on behalf of Council on this 9th day of October, 2013. ____________________________ __________________________ Gary Corbett Mayor CAO