Burning leaves in your yard is allowed on certain days, but you can never burn household garbage.
With all of the recent windstorms, many residents in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles and Orange counties have a yard full of tree branches, bushes, leaves and other debris. It seems like the best solution, and a natural one, would be to burn the debris in your yard, right?
Well, yes and no. Did you know that you need a debris-burning permit before you can start burning garbage in your yard? And that you can only do it on certain days? It’s not as easy as you think—that might be your yard, but you don’t have the right to start fires and burn items whenever you like.
Please note that you cannot burn household trash or garbage in your yard—that is strictly forbidden! This is mainly because burning household trash can release toxic chemicals and particulate matter that can be harmful to you, your family and even your pets. But dry, dead vegetation is allowed to be burned if you follow some strict guidelines.
Also, you should call your local branch of the Air Resources Board or local to make sure that you don’t need a permit, and to make sure you are burning your yard waste on an appropriate day.
And by all means, it’s very important you follow these instructions, not just because it’s the official burning permit requirements, but because they have been created with your safety in mind. Most parts of the Inland Empire are dry all year round, so we need to be careful that a fire does not spread. We love to do fire damage restoration, but we’d rather you didn’t go around burning your house down to give us business!
- Your maximum burn pile size is 4 feet in diameter, so that means 4-feet wide, and 4-feet tall. NO more.
- Measure 10 feet in all directions from the edge of your pile, not the center, then clear all flammable materials and any vegetation in that area.
- Make sure you have a few buckets of water or a hose that’s on standby (or both!) within easy reach of your position near the burning site.
- We recommend not having any children under the age of 12 present at the burn site.
- An adult should be in attendance with a shovel from the time the burning starts to the time it’s out. Use the shovel to throw dirt on the fire if it starts getting out of control.
- Check the weather conditions—no debris burning can be done when the weather makes it unsafe, especially when there is wind.
What happens if you don’t follow these rules to a “T”? You will be in violation of state law PRCs 4421, 4422, 4423 and 4425. Not only that, you could burn down your house, your neighbor’s house or even the whole neighborhood, and none of that will win you any friends.
And, whatever you do, please do not add gasoline, petrol, lighter fluid or any other accelerant to “help” the fire burn. Don’t believe us? Click here to read about the Indiana man who tried, and died with burns over 90% of his body.
And if you do manage to create a fire that damages your home or, heaven forbid, one of your neighbors’ homes, please call us right away. Our trained and experienced technicians are standing by to help you, with a quick turnaround both on estimate and work performed. Call us now on 877-732-8471 for the best service and fire damage restoration in Southern California.