CHAPTER 6
OUTDOOR BURNING1
SECTION:
§5500 REPEALER
California Fire Code Section 1102.3 is repealed and the regulations of this Chapter shall govern outdoor burning. (Ord. 607, §3, adopted 1970; Ord. 737, §5, adopted 1980; Ord. 830, §1, adopted 1984; Ord. 898, §1, adopted 1990; Ord. 960, §1, adopted 1995; Ord. 1018, §1, adopted 1999)
§5501 BURNING PROHIBITED
No person, firm, corporation, association, or public agency shall ignite, cause to be ignited, permit to be ignited, or suffer, allow, or maintain any open outdoor fire within the corporate limits of the City, unless excepted by the provisions of this Chapter. (Ord. 607, §4, adopted 1970)
§5502 DEFINITIONS
A. "Open outdoor fire" as used in this chapter means the outdoor combustion of any type of combustible material in other than an approved incinerator. “Open outdoor fire” does not include portable lanterns designed to emit light resulting from a combustion process.
B. "Approved incinerator" as used in this chapter means a device which when used to consume material by combustion will completely enclose said material and control combustion so that the smoke and gases given off conform to the standards for emissions as set by the State of California Air Resources Board.
C. "Campfire" as used in this chapter means a fire which is used for cooking, personal warmth, lighting, ceremonial, or aesthetic purposes, including fires contained within outdoor fireplaces and enclosed stoves with flues or chimneys, stoves using jellied, liquid, solid, or gaseous fuels, portable barbecue pits and braziers, or space heating devices which are used outside any structure, mobile home, or living accommodation mounted on a motor vehicle. (Ord. 607, §5, adopted 1970; Ord. 1243, §2, adopted 2024)
§5503 EXCEPTIONS
The following fires are excepted from the provisions of this chapter:
A. Campfires; provided, however, that a person shall not set fire or cause fire to be set for any purpose on land in which the person does not have a right of possession as an owner or lessee, including both public and privately owned land, without the prior permission of the owner, lessee, or the lawfully designated agent of the owner or lessee. The burden of proof is on the person setting the fire to establish the application of this exception.
B. Any fire set or permitted by any public officer, in the performance of his official duty, if such fire is set or permission given for the purpose of weed abatement, the prevention of a fire hazard, including the disposal of dangerous materials where there is no safe alternate method of disposal, or in the instruction of public employees in the methods of fighting fires, which fire is, in the opinion of such official, necessary.
C. Fires set for the purpose of instruction of industrial employees in the methods of fighting fires, provided prior permission has been granted by the Chief of the Fire Department of the City.
D. An agricultural fire set by, or permitted by, a County Agricultural Commissioner of the County of Mendocino, if such fire is set or permission given in the performance of the official duty of such County Agricultural Commissioner for the purpose of disease and pest prevention.
E. Fires set or permitted by the Chief of the Fire Department of the City, or his authorized representative, and necessary to maintain and continue the growing of deciduous fruit and nut trees as a gainful occupation, for the purpose of disposal of periodic prunings and attrition losses from deciduous fruit and nut trees, during a period beginning December 1 and ending April 30, under all conditions of subsections A through D of this Section.
1. All burning shall be done between the hours of sunrise and noon.
2. The moisture content of material burned shall be such that a minimum amount of smoke is generated.
3. Wind direction at the site shall be such that the direction of smoke will be away from populated areas to minimize local nuisance caused by smoke and particulate fallout.
4. Relative humidity must exceed thirty percent (30%) at time of burning.
F. Any fire, if it can be demonstrated that nothing but carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, or water vapor is emitted in amounts permitted by State of California air resources board standards under all operating conditions.
Nothing in this chapter is intended to permit any practice which is a violation of any statute, ordinance, rule or regulation, including rules and regulations adopted by any district formed for the purpose of controlling air pollution and whose territory includes the city. (Ord. 607, §6, adopted 1970; Ord. 1243, §3, adopted 2024)
§5504 ENFORCEMENT
It shall be the duty of the chief of the fire department of the city, of the regularly employed members of such department assigned by the fire chief, and of the city health officer to enforce the provisions of this chapter. Further, said fire chief and city health officer shall be the authority for determining whether or not incinerators are of an approved type as previously defined. (Ord. 607, §7, adopted 1970)
§5505 PENALTY FOR VIOLATION
Any person, firm, or corporation, whether as principal, agent, employee or otherwise, violating or causing the violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punishable by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars ($300.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding ninety (90) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. (Ord. 607, §9, adopted 1970; Ord. 830, §1, adopted 1984)
§5506 SEVERABILITY
If any section, subsection, paragraph, clause or phrase of this chapter is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decisions shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this chapter as such other portions shall be deemed separate, distinct, and independent provisions. (Ord. 607, §9, adopted 1970)
Chapter 6, Fireworks; repealed by Ord. 737, §1, adopted 1980.