O. Reg. 230/00: OUTDOOR FIRES

 

ONTARIO REGULATION 230/00

made under the

Forest Fires Prevention Act

Made: April 12, 2000
Filed: April 14, 2000

Amending O. Reg. 207/96

(Outdoor Fires)

1. Sections 2 and 3 of Ontario Regulation 207/96 are revoked and the following substituted:

2. No person shall start or tend a fire outdoors outside of a restricted fire zone during the fire season unless the person has a permit issued under subsection 5 (1) or all of the following conditions are met:

1. The person is burning piled wood, brush, leaves or discarded wood by–products.

2. A responsible person is available to tend the fire until it is extinguished.

3. The material is burned in a single pile that is less than two metres in diameter and less than two metres high.

4. The fire is started not earlier than two hours before sunset, and is extinguished not later than two hours after sunrise the following day, or earlier.

5. The fire is at least two metres from any flammable materials.

6. The person tending the fire has tools or water adequate to contain the fire within the fire site.

3. (1) No person shall make or tend a fire in an incinerator outside of a restricted fire zone during the fire season unless the person either has a permit issued under subsection 5 (1) or all of the following conditions are met:

1. The person is burning wood, brush, leaves or discarded wood by–products.

2. The incinerator is an enclosed device constructed entirely of non–combustible material.

3. The incinerator is at least five metres from any forest or woodland.

4. The incinerator is at least two metres from any flammable materials.

5. The outlet of the incinerator is covered with a screen having a mesh size of not more than five millimetres.

(2) A person who starts a fire in an incinerator shall ensure that a responsible person monitors the fire until it is extinguished.

2. (1) Subsection 4 (1) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

(1) No person shall start or tend a fire outdoors outside of a restricted fire zone during the fire season for the purpose of burning grass or leaf litter unless the person has a permit issued under subsection 5 (1).

(2) Subsection 4 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “person starting the fire” in the portion before clause (a) and substituting “person starting or tending the fire”.

(3) Subsection 4 (3) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “person who starts a fire” and substituting “person who starts or tends a fire”.

3. Sections 5 and 6 of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:

5. (1) An officer may issue to a person a fire permit for a fire outdoors or in an incinerator, outside of a restricted fire zone, for the purpose of burning piled wood, brush, leaves, grass, leaf litter or discarded wood products.

(2) An officer may issue a permit to a person for a fire outdoors in a restricted fire zone if the officer is satisfied that the fire can be made, tended and extinguished safely, and is necessary for a ceremonial event or because of special circumstances.

(3) An officer may make a permit issued under subsection (1) or (2) subject to conditions relating to one or more of the following:

1. Restrictions on the time during which there may be a fire.

2. The requirement that the fire be or not be in a specific location, including the distance that must be maintained from flammable materials.

3. Required fire suppression equipment.

4. The method to be followed to extinguish the fire.

5. Any other factors which the officer reasonably considers to be necessary to ensure that the fire is made and extinguished safely.

4. Section 8 of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

8. Except as provided in sections 8.1 to 8.4, no person shall start or tend a fire outdoors in a restricted fire zone for the purpose of cooking or warmth.

8.1 No person shall use a portable stove for cooking or warmth in or outside of a restricted fire zone unless all of the following conditions are met:

1. The stove is at least one metre from any naturally occurring flammable material.

2. The stove is designed to use a liquid or a gas as fuel.

3. A liquid or gas is used as the fuel.

4. The flame in the stove can be extinguished by closing a fuel control valve or by closing the stove.

8.2 (1) No person shall use a portable or permanent charcoal installation outside of a restricted fire zone for cooking or warmth unless,

(a) the installation is at least one metre from any naturally occurring flammable material; and

(b) the ashes and coals produced through combustion are completely extinguished and safely disposed of.

(2) No person shall use a portable or permanent charcoal installation for cooking or warmth in a restricted fire zone unless all of the conditions set out in subsection (1) are met and all of the following conditions are met:

1. The installation is designed to be used for cooking or warmth.

2. The installation is designed to use commercially produced charcoal as fuel.

3. Commercially produced charcoal is used as the fuel.

4. The installation is being used within 100 metres of a permanent structure used as a dwelling.

5. The person setting the fire is on land that he or she lawfully occupies or has permission to set a fire from the person who lawfully occupies the land.

(3) No person shall use a portable or permanent charcoal installation for cooking or warmth in a restricted fire zone in a campground described in section 8.7 unless all of the conditions in subsection (1) are met and all of the following conditions are met:

1. The installation is designed to use commercially produced charcoal as fuel.

2. Commercially produced charcoal is used as the fuel.

3. The owner or operator of the campground expressly permits a charcoal installation to be used during a time when the campground is in a restricted fire zone.

8.3 (1) No person shall use a wood burning stove or wood burning furnace outdoors outside of a restricted fire zone for cooking or warmth unless all of the following conditions are met:

1. The stove or furnace is at least five metres from any forest or woodland.

2. The stove or furnace is at least two metres from any flammable materials.

3. The area directly under the stove or furnace is bare rock, mineral soil or other non–combustible material extending at least two metres in all directions from the stove or furnace.

4. The stove or furnace,

i. is designed to be used for cooking or warmth,

ii. is designed to use wood as fuel,

iii. is made entirely of non–combustible materials,

iv. encloses the fire on all sides with solid materials, and

v. has working spark arresting devices for all vents and chimneys.

5. Wood is used as the fuel.

(2) No person shall use a wood burning stove or wood burning furnace outdoors in a restricted fire zone for cooking or warmth unless all of the conditions set out in subsection (1) are met and,

(a) the stove or furnace is used within 100 metres of a permanent structure used as a dwelling; and

(b) the person setting the fire is on land that he or she lawfully occupies or has permission to set a fire from the person who lawfully occupies the land.

8.4 No person shall set a wood fire in a permanent fire installation in a campground described in section 8.7 in a restricted fire zone unless all of the following conditions are met:

1. The fire is contained in,

i. an above ground fire grate or fireplace that is designed to burn wood safely and that cannot be moved to an unsafe location, or

ii. a pit in the ground that has fireproof walls and is designed to burn wood safely.

2. The fire is at least three metres from any forest or woodland, and the area within the three metre radius is completely free of flammable material.

3. The space immediately above the fire installation is at least three metres from any overhanging vegetation.

4. The owner or operator of the campground expressly permits the fire to be set during a time when the campground is in a restricted fire zone.

8.5 No person shall start a fire outdoors outside of a restricted fire zone during the fire season for cooking or warmth unless all of the following conditions are met:

1. The site of the fire is bare rock or other non–combustible material.

2. The fire is at least one metre from any flammable material.

3. The space above the one metre area around the fire is at least three metres from vegetation.

4. The fire does not exceed one metre in height and one metre in diameter.

8.6 No person shall use a portable wood burning stove for cooking or warmth outside of a restricted fire zone unless all of the following conditions are met:

1. The stove is at least one metre from any naturally occurring flammable material.

2. The stove is designed to be used for cooking or warmth.

3. The stove is made entirely of non–combustible materials.

4. The ashes and coals produced through combustion are completely extinguished and safely disposed of before the stove is moved.

8.7 A campground referred to in subsection 8.2 (3) and section 8.4 offers camping facilities to the public on a temporary basis and meets all of the following criteria:

1. The campground allows camping only in cabins and designated campsites, and all are accessible by motor vehicle as defined in the Highway Traffic Act.

2. The campground does not allow campfires fires between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

3. The campground clearly posts the hours campfires will be allowed.

4. The campground has printed information on safe campfires and provides it to all of its guests.

5. The campground has adequate equipment to control and extinguish a fire, that can be taken to any campsite or cabin within 10 minutes.

6. The campground has on site at all times staff who are instructed in the location and use of the equipment described in paragraph 5.

7. The campground has reliable two–way telecommunications equipment to allow it to obtain assistance if a fire escapes control.

8.8 For the purpose of sections 8.1, 8.2 and 8.6, a thing is portable if it is designed to be moved from one location to another by muscular power without the aid of any device.

5. Schedules 1, 2 and 3 to the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:

Schedule 1

West Fire Region

All that land in the territorial districts of Cochrane, Kenora, Thunder Bay and Rainy River, in the Province of Ontario, and designated as Zones 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, on a plan known as West Fire Region, Restricted Fire Zones, filed in the Office of the Surveyor General on January 31, 2000 at the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Schedule 2

East Fire Region

All that land in the territorial districts of Algoma, Cochrane, Kenora, Manitoulin, Muskoka, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Timiskaming, and in the counties of Frontenac, Haliburton, Hastings, Lennox and Addington, Peterborough, Renfrew, Simcoe and Victoria in the province of Ontario, and designated as Zones 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36 on a plan known as East Fire Region, Restricted Fire Zones, filed in the Office of the Surveyor General on January 31, 2000 at the Ministry of Natural Resources.