Hot off the press is a new Open Fire Policy. The effective date was March 31, 2024. The Open Burning Policy breaks burning into four Open Fire categories. Category 1 Open Fire is a campfire, the largest is a Category 4 Open Fire, which is a prescribed fire such as a broadcast burn. On your woodlot, your pile burning is likely a Category 3 Open Fire:
- Three or more piles each not exceeding 2 metres in height and 3 metres in width
- One or more piles each exceeding 2 metres in height or 3 metres in width
- One or more windrows, none of which exceed 200 metres in length or 15 metres in width
- Stubble or grass over an area exceeding 0.2 hectares
The new requirement is the addition of a fuel break. As a woodlot licensee you are a qualified holder and must ensure a fuel break is in place around the pile and inside the cutblock. A fuel break is defined as:
- a barrier or change in fuel type or condition or,
- a strip of land that has been modified or cleared to prevent fire spread.
Let’s unpack that a bit, shall we:
A fuel break is a gap in fuel. Fuel is one of the sides in the fire triangle. To stop a fire, you must remove one of three required ingredients to the chemical reaction that creates fire: oxygen, ignition and fuel. Hard to remove oxygen, not igniting is a good strategy as well, but not useful when lightign up a pile. So, fuel must be removed between the pile and the rest of the planet.
The fuel break width and type depends on wind, weather, adjacent fuels, topography and moisture. The fuel break has to be unburnable given all those conditions when you light your pile. Therefore, what constitutes a fuel break changes over the course of a year.
For example, grass around a pile might be a fuel break in the fall, in very high moisture conditions, but not a fuel break in the summer in high heat and dry conditions.
Snow, bodies of water, or bare rock can be considered a fuel break if they remain a fuel break during pile incineration. A thin layer of snow may melt allowing a fire to burn the fuel below, in this instance, not being a fuel break.
Once you light the pile, you are responsible for making sure it is out. You must document your process for ensuring the pile is out. Take photos and notes. Check the piles in the spring and document. You can use thermal scanning, hands or machinery to check for heat and return to check again. Did I say document? Make sure you’ve got your visits on record!
Lets talk about why this is important. Fines. Anyone found in contravention may be issued a violation ticket for $1,150, required to pay an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 or, if convicted in court, fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced to one year in jail. If the contravention causes or contributes to a wildfire, you may be ordered to pay all firefighting and associated costs. Violators could also be held responsible for damages to Crown resources, which could be significant.
Lets Recap: make sure you’ve got an adequate fire break before you burn, a burn registration number and document that they are fully extinguished.