Hand-piled Yard Waste Fire Permits

We are in the transition period from our moist and cool weather and will be heading into the traditional hotter, drier weather of May/June.  Accurate Fire Weather forecasting cannot predict conditions much beyond ten days, and erring on the side of caution, the TIVFD and its Fire Permit designates will only be issuing Yard Waste fire permits until May 15th.  Five people applied in person for and received Yard Waste fire permits on Saturday at the Solid Waste Yard and those permits were incorrectly dated for the entire month.  If you were one of these five (Lots 138, 217, 221, 273 and 309), please reapply on May 15th for an extended permit.

Yard Waste burn piles are more problematic than campfires for wildfire hazard because of their size, and because they are ignited in daylight hours during the lower humidity and higher temperature part of the day.  Burn piles, by regulation, must be smaller than 3 metres in diameter and 2 metres in height, and on bare ground away from leaf,branch litter or grass, under trees, near buildings, fences etc.  Burn piles must be supervised at all times, and not ignited when there is a threat of wind carrying live sparks or embers to the surrounding interface.  Campfires are evening (after 5 pm) open burns, with a much smaller diameter (less than 18 inches x 18 inches) and ignited during a higher humidity and lower temperature part of the day.  They also must be supervised continuously.

We have just completed five months of open burning without a permit and one month of open burning with a permit.  May is open to campfires with a permit at this time, and at the moment we will continue open burning yard waste piles until May 15th, and reassess then.

Fire Chief J. Caldbeck

TIVFD