Open Burning Season

To Start October 1

Fire Marshal Bill Halstead said this week that the local open burning season is scheduled to start on Saturday, October 1.

Open burning permits, which are required for the activity, will start being issued on Monday, September 26, at the fire marshal’s office at Newtown Municipal Center at 3 Primrose Street. Permits cost $5. Office hours for the fire marshal are 7 am to 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday.

Mr Halstead said that open burning season is starting a month earlier than usual due to residents’ desire to dispose of the brush debris resulting from damage caused by Tropical Storm Irene.

After receiving an open burning permit, permit holders must contact the town’s emergency dispatch center at 203-270-4200 on the day of the scheduled open burning to learn if weather conditions allow such activity that day.

Open burning permits are intended for the burning of brush only, whose trunk size is no larger than three inches in diameter. Open burning must be attended at all times when burning is underway.

Open burning is not allowed in wooded areas. Open burning must be done at least 100 feet away from wooded areas, dried grass, and property lines.

On the day scheduled for open burning, winds must range from five to 15 miles per hour.

Open burning permits will be canceled on days when the forest fire danger is listed as High, Very High, or Extreme, and also during high winds. Open burning areas must be extinguished by 5 pm on the day of the permit.

Prohibited is the open burning of cut trees, stumps, roots, leaves, grass, construction materials, and garbage.

The town inspects the site of planned open burning before that burning may occur. For details on open burning permits, contact the fire marshal’s office at 203-270-4370.

Information on forest fire danger levels is available on the town website on the Internet. That information may be obtained by clicking on the Smokey Bear icon on the lower right side of the home page.