Campfires, bonfires

must be approved by fire marshal

MUNFORD

[email protected]

Anyone seeking

to have a bonfire or campfire in Peachtree City must first get permission

from the city's fire marshal.

That's one

of the new restrictions included in changes to the city's outdoor burning

ordinance.

If outdoor

cooking is to take place without using an approved grill, including fires

for luaus and other cookouts, they must be authorized by the fire marshal's

office, the ordinance states.

"The fire

chief and the fire marshal shall have reasonable discretion as to when

outdoor burning is allowed based on existing or forecasted weather conditions,"

the ordinance states.

The changes

to the ordinance also reduce the maximum size of fires in Peachtree City

which are used to burn brush, garden trash and other yard debris.

The fires must

be no larger than 75 cubic feet under the changes to the city's burning

ordinance that were adopted by the City Council at its last meeting. Previously,

the city allowed such fires to encompass up to 125 cubic feet.

"The fire

department believes that a fire of 125 cubic feet is no longer appropriate

or safe for developed residential areas within Peachtree City unless there

are special precautions," Acting Fire Chief Stony Lohr said in a

memo to the City Council on the changes.

Persons in

charge of outdoor fires should take appropriate safeguards to prevent

the fire from spreading, and all fires must be extinguished by nightfall,

the ordinance states.

The ordinance

also empowers the Fire Department to monitor authorized burning activities.

In some cases, the Fire Department can either require deficiencies to

be corrected or that the fire be extinguished.

Burning the

following items is prohibited by the ordinance: garbage, rubbish, automotive

tires and tubes, asphalt shingles, PVC pipe, insulation, treated lumber,

adhesives, shale oil, nitrocellulose, combustible liquids and other products

manufactured from derivatives of petroleum.

The use of

hydrocarbons to start or fuel a fire is also prohibited.

All outdoor

burning for land development purposes must also be permitted through the

fire marshal's office. Such permits require inspection of the site, the

burn pit, the air curtain and fire prevention procedures.