| Before enjoy your summer nights with a backyard blaze of glory, be mindful of the city’s bylaws regarding firepits.
Much of it is common sense – don’t start your fire under a tree, for example. Fires have to be in a non-combustible structure (like bricks) or built into the ground at least two metres away from any building or fence.
It may be fun to throw random shit into the consuming flames, but garbage, rubber, plastic, yard waste and animal carcasses are not to be burned. (Common sense also dictates that aerosol cans and other flammables should be kept away.)
Attention must also be given to fuel for the fire. Don’t use treated or painted lumber, or wood with glue or resin on it. Nor should you use wet or unseasoned wood, according to the city’s bylaws.
Once you have your fire burning, don’t leave it unattended, and have a means of extinguishing it for if something goes wrong.
Beer after beer can make you lose track of time, but if your fire is raging into the early morning, don’t be surprised if you get shut down. In the good ol’ days your fire could burn all night, but last year city council passed a bylaw that requires all fires need to be out by 1 a.m. If you are itching to start it again, you can do it in the morning – but not before 8 a.m.
Finally, there are restrictions on the size of the fire. It shouldn’t be larger than one metre wide or one metre high. (Don’t use a tape measurer for this one – eyeballing it is probably a wiser choice.)
Breaking any of these laws could get you dinged with a fine. Happy burning. |
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