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What Exactly is a Burn Permit and why do you need one?
•Season 4•Episode 38
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Today, we’re diving into the Redding Fire Department Burn Permit Program with Fire Prevention Specialist Sarah Roth. Burn piles are a vital tool in maintaining fire safety and managing vegetation during burn season.
We’ll be discussing everything you need to know about obtaining a free burn permit, following the rules for safe and responsible burning, and how this program helps protect our community and environment. Whether you’re a first-time burner or a seasoned pro, this episode is packed with practical tips and critical information to keep you safe this burn season.
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I'm Katie and. I'm Steve, and this is the City of Redding podcast. Today we're diving into the Redding Fire Department burn permit program with fire prevention specialist Sarah Roth. Burn piles are a vital tool in maintaining fire safety and managing vegetation during burn season. We'll be discussing everything you need to know about obtaining a free burn permit, following the rules for safe and responsible burning, and how this program helps to protect our community and environment. Whether you're a first time burner or seasoned pro. This episode is packed with practical tips and critical information to keep you safe this burn season. To learn more about Burn permits, please visit. City of Redding governor burn Permit. Sarah Roth, Redding Fire Department Fire Prevention specialist. Awesome. Thanks for joining us again today. Sarah. We are happy to have you. And today we're talking all about burn permits through the Redding Fire Department. What they are, why we need them and how they work. I know there's a lot of specifics that go into that, so we're happy to have you. So maybe we could just start with that. Can you explain the purpose of the Redding burn permit program? Absolutely. So from November through April, we allow open burning with free burn permits if you go online or into the Redding Fire Department Headquarters office, we provide a physical copy for you or they're available online as well. But we provide this program free to residents. That way they can get rid of their excess vegetation. Living in Redding, we have all kinds of different native plants and trees around here and they can get overgrown quickly. So we definitely want residents to take advantage of the free opportunity to get rid of their vegetation during the winter wet months by burning. It is a it's a great option, you know, to utilize if you don't have enough space in your green bin or otherwise. Got it. So for the most part, our folks who are utilizing the burning, maybe they live on acreage or have more of a lush yard and have a ton of plants and trees and vegetation that they're trying to get rid of, and it's too much, like you said, too much to put in your green bin and too much to maybe take to the transfer station. So this is a great option for. Them, right? Also, when you are burning, you want to have your piles at least 50ft away from any structure. So if you don't have that big of a yard like myself, it's very small. I can't burn because I don't have the option to burn 50ft away. So for those residents who have, you know, larger yards that can do that, or if they do have acreage, that's definitely a great option and depending on the size of your property, will also depend on the size of your pile that you can have as well. With regard to that 50ft, if I understand this correctly, it's 50ft away from your house. Is that also 50ft away from any outbuildings and I'm assuming any any neighbor neighbor properties. Okay. So any and all structures. Yeah. So if someone says yes, I'd love to burn what can and can't be in a burn pile. So as you're saying this is mostly vegetation. So sticks, leaves, brush, etc., what are some other things that folks might consider either putting in their burn pile or definitely not allowed to have in that burn pile? Right. So obviously no garbage, cardboard, paper, construction materials or any kind of waste, uh, clothing, fabrics, plastic. Of course. It's terrible to burn any material that's not vegetation will be illegal to burn. And also, if you have your larger logs, you definitely want to cut those up into smaller
fuels because fires need to be out by 5:
00 every evening. So if you have the larger fuels and you are burning them, you can cut them up into smaller pieces. Hopefully they burn faster and then go out easier in the evening time, because we definitely don't want any winds blowing sparks and causing any additional fires outside. So maybe on the topic of safety, what safety precautions should residents take while burning? Well, always have an adult present with your fire and a water source available nearby. So when you make your burn pile and you read through the requirements on your permit, you will, you know, follow those compliances, which will definitely help keep you safe. So having that nice soiled dirt scrape line around your pile to make sure that it doesn't spread, having your water, staying present the whole time. You mentioned pile. Size. Maybe you can go through that. What are those pile sizes? And someone out there, they actually measuring with like a tape measure on that pile size. Or how do they determine pile size. So we don't usually go out with a measuring tape. We can kind of eye it. If your property is under an acre you can have a 4x4 pile. So obviously, you know, if you have a pile that's longer than yourself, it's probably too large. But if you're under an acre, a 4x4 pile with that nice dirt scrape line around it, and then for properties over one acre, you can have a ten by ten. So, you know, those larger fields and properties, you see larger piles. The ten by tens are definitely allowed. And you have to have 25ft of outer edge clearance from any, you know, flammable materials or vegetation. So that's that soil line around your pile. And so maybe we can talk about the process itself. I know that city of redding.gov/burn permits. There's all sorts of information about this program as well as the permit itself. But can you talk to us? Okay, I'm ready to burn. It's November 1st. I'm guessing I need to call and confirm that I'm eligible to burn that day. Maybe we can talk about that. And then also, if yes, then. Then what? Absolutely. So you have to wait until past 9:15 a.m. every day to see if it is a permissible burn day. And you call air quality control at(530) 224-8777. And they will let you know if it is a permissible burn day. If not, then obviously there will be no burning allowed in the city of Redding, and if so, then you may continue with your burn and make for sure that you have all of the requirements and you know your water shovel ready for being out and watching your fire. Got it. So then you submit this information on the website, and then you have to retain that permit for if and when Redding Fire Department shows up at the pile. Or what do you require to have on you in order to do that burn. Yeah. So if you have the physical paper copy, if you download it and print it out, sign it, then that will suffice. If you're in a if you have a large property, then you can also like tape it on the mailbox. Some people do that just so it's there and available. If the engines do show up. And then how does the Redding Fire Department ensure compliance with the burn regulations? As a representative from RFD actually visiting every burn pile, or it's more of as you're saying, if they see smoke and get called to it, then they need to be shown that permit. Yeah. So we, um, are trusting residents that when they get the burn permit, they're going to read through the requirements. And when they sign, they are agreeing that they have read the requirements. So, um, when we do, if we show up for a smoke check, um, which does happen, then we check to see if they have a burn permit because they do need one, but we don't go out and physically seek to make sure that every burn pile has a burn permit. We're trusting that people will do the smart thing and, you know, read through the requirements and be responsible. And if not, we have a lot of wonderful residents who are very fire safe and will, you know, call it in and let us know so we can go check. Got it. And I guess we should have said that there's no cost to the burn permits. Correct. It's free of. Charge. Absolutely free. Okay, great. And then I guess on that side, if someone maybe doesn't get that permit and goes ahead and burns anyways, and it's found to not have the permit, what are some potential consequences if someone violates those burn regulations? Yeah. So you can be cited and issued a ticket if you are burning illegally, especially if you are burning under very unsafe conditions. You know, sometimes we think that everybody just knows, but it's not always the case. So as long as, you know, people, when we show up to these illegal burns, we'll educate firstly and, you know, make sure that they put it out, do correctly. And as long as it's not completely negligent, then we'll probably go the educational route rather than trying to issue citations. But if it is negligence or they do cause damage, then that's definitely a route that can be taken. And Sarah, I know you touched on it a little bit at the beginning, but how does a program like this burn permit program, how does that help reduce wildfire risk and Redding. Well, it gives people. An opportunity to get rid of their vegetation for free, and they don't even have to leave their home or property to do it. I know myself, I personally enjoy sitting around a fire and I think a lot of other people do too. So being able to, you know, utilize your free time with that extra vegetation, especially when we get, you know, nice wet winters. The open burn season goes until April, so we have plenty of time to take advantage of that. You know, it's not just November and April anymore. We have extended that to give people more of a opportunity to take advantage of the good weather, because if November is filled with rain, then we're only left with one month. So we've really been trying to extend the capabilities for people to be able to burn their vegetation because fire, when uncontrolled, can be very bad, but when controlled it can be very beneficial to us. Sir, I know one of the items that's not allowed or that can't be used are burned barrels. I guess for those who may not know what is a burn barrel and why, is that something that folks cannot burn this material in. Right. So the large steel or metal drums is what we are referring to. And we're saying that no burn barrels. And that's because that one they're illegal in all of California, but that's because of possible air quality issues. The possibility of people burning trash more, it's concealed. So the fire department can't just, like, drive by and see that you're burning a pile of wood. It's a lot easier to then burn any of those plastics or, you know, trash that shouldn't be in there. And for air quality purposes. What are some of the most common mistakes that people make when burning and how can they be avoided? I would say just being present, and that's an obvious fix. Make sure that you stay around and have a water source available, as well as making
sure your fire is completely out at 5:
00 wet weather. But that doesn't mean that a fire can't start.
Make sure that your fire is cold at 5:
00, and there's no embers that could possibly, you know, Blow with any kind of winds and start anything. So really ensuring that it's out every evening. And to do that is that just putting putting water on it, or should you be shoveling soil on top of it? How do you truly ensure that it's completely out? Right. So have a shovel in your water. You can put the water over it, mix it up, use the back of your hand to feel if it's if there's warmth in there, then you know you can mix it up a little bit more. And if it's cold then you know it's. Out, okay. And if someone wants to learn more about the burn permit program or talk to maybe yourself or someone else, what's the best way to do that? Well, they can. Go online to the Redding Fire Department website, or feel free to call our office, and we can assist in any questions that you may have. Our office number is (530) 225-4141.
