Pics of bonfire(s)

[Xfaxman]

Yep. Actually it's the State Department of Environmental Quality; they have (or used to) have some local county offices. There are regulations on open burning that have been around virtually unchanged since the early 70's. I worked for the DEQ for 18 years in Air Quality enforcement/compliance, retired in 2000. Here's a fact sheet on open burning in the state:

http://www.deq.state.ok.us/factsheets/local/perburn1.pdf

Thanks, good information. Looks like I am covered by #6. **Burning of vegetation in clearing land, right-of-way maintenance, and agricultural crops.

 

[CobyRupert]

Yes, every fire I make is strictly for the expression of and associated with religious ceremonial purposes.

 

[ArmyPair2]

:shocked:We burnt a nice size pile to the ground and after a few rain storms and over a week later started a second pile. More than a week later that second pile flamed up while we was sleeping during the night. That put a good scare into us.

 

[RobertN]

Max size for burn piles here is 4'x4'x4'. Piles like some shown here would get a major fine. After the FD put it out.... Been there done that(on engine crew, putting out burn pile while owner got wrote up).

Nasty one was big burn pile with yard debri, construction debri, and household trash. Stunk up a storm; was pain clening up afterwards.

 

[TCowner]

A few years ago I found my wife was burning a few small pine branches. She had a small fire that would probably meet the definition of a "recreational fire" which would not require a burning permit. I had gotten a permit a few months prior but it has expired. So I says to her, how about I get the loader and grapple and put a few larger branches on her small fire. So, I dropped a large pile of pine brush that was extremely dry and still had most of the pine needles attached. Well, her little recreational fire went from about 2 feet high to a swirling vortex of flames shooting about 30 feet into the air. It was in an open area with green grass around the burn area so I wasn't too concerned about it getting out of control.

But, apparently someone driving by didn't agree. In less than 15 minutes I could hear the sound of an emergency vehicle siren approaching. At about the same time a highway patrolman pulled off to the side of the road. He got out of his car and appeared to want to descend the road ditch to investigate but gave up because the ditch was too steep. But by this time my 30 foot fire was probably down to about 7 or 8 feet and my wife had positioned a couple of lawn chairs in the area. So when the fire trucks went by (about 5 mph) they must have thought this was a recreational fire, perhaps above the limit, but still a recreational fire so the continued down the highway, turned around and went back to town. I never heard from them so I breathed a sigh of relief.

I pause to think what that would have cost me had they claimed I was burning without a permit therefore requiring a fire department call. In Minnesota we can apply for a permit on line through the DNR for $5.00 per year and you activate it by simply calling a toll free number, entering your permit # and then calling the local fire department to tell them you are burning. I keep all of that information on my cell phone and activate the permit any time I get the itch to burn.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Failing to get a permit or not informing the local fire departments seems to cause more angst than anything. Those kinds of complaints always seem to get a dramatic response. Don't forget, though, that just because you get a permit from the local fire department that you "burn" is otherwise legal. We found that the fire departments often don't know what state regs are, or even that they exist.

 

[Tollster]

 

[andrehoude123]

Here are 4 of our little fires that we made to get rid of brush but now that we have our bx 42r we just burn fire wood to make little fires much safer!

 

[Taylortractornut]

We have some pretty lax burn laws but I have a severe dislike of the local volunteer FD, not really the FD but they let slot of young dumb people have keys to the station.. We had a burn ban on then got a 6 inch rain. I have a spot I had lots of brush on piled up. This kid cut the lock off my gate and ran in with a fire truck to put out my fire. Said I was an idiot to burn during a ban. That's when I lost it. I was in 4 inches of water. I called the law made the FD pay for a new lock. I burn my whole place off each spring. Helps the soil reduces under brush and ticks.
I brought home 3 40 yard cans of pallets and stacked them and lit the center made a massive bonfire.

 

[CobyRupert]

Ahh yes, the VFD. Bless em' when they get out of bed at 3:00am to fight a fire when it's -20 degrees below zero. And curse them when their self-aggrandizing power tripping goes too far.

Rules are shortcuts for people who can't or are too lazy think on their own.