Maitland City Talk

While many native Floridians and longtime “transplants” are familiar with our annual weather cycle of dry and wet periods, every now and then it helps to step back and see where we are in the “seasons.”

According to the National Weather Service’s Melbourne office in the Dry Season Forecast, the last significant rain received in Central Florida occurred in mid-December 2012. In addition, the El Nino/La Nina effect is in a neutral pattern at the moment. In short, we have a deficit in the amount of rain received even though the rainy season doesn’t start until May.

Going hand-in-hand with the dry season, we have some dead vegetation from the recent freeze experienced in January. We have seen “Red Flag” warnings about dry conditions already this season, however, no burn bans are in effect at the moment. Depending upon nature’s cooperation, the burn-ban situation may change significantly in the near future. Still some folks may be thinking of getting rid of dead vegetation by burning.

Living in a suburban/urban environment, we must be mindful of how we dispose of such vegetation, and the use of fire as a tool. Fire can get out of hand quickly with dire consequences for more than one property.

The Florida Fire Prevention Code (FFPC) does contain guidance and requirements for dealing with fires for recreational, cooking or open burning. For those facilities or homes that have permanent barbeques, portable barbeques, outdoor fireplaces or grills, the FFPC stipulates they may not be used for disposal of rubbish, trash or combustible waste materials. The burning of dead vegetation or leaves would not be an acceptable practice per this FFPC stipulation.

But, that doesn’t mean on those cool crisp evenings, with an adequate amount of room and a safe environment, a recreational or cooking fire may not be kindled. We recommend the use of a commercially manufactured fire pit with a screen lid or chimenea-type enclosed fire container.

The city of Maitland’s fire code requires a permit be obtained for an open fire or bonfire, however, no permit is required for such commercial devices, which have a combustion chamber.

For outdoor fires, guidelines are provided in the FFPC to help ensure against any fire spreading. These guidelines are:

• Open burn or bonfires shall be located not less than 50 feet from any structure.

• Burning hours shall be prescribed by the local fire authority having jurisdiction or as identified on the permit application for open fires or bonfires in the city of Maitland.

• Recreational fires shall not be located within 25 feet of a structure or combustible material unless contained in an approved manner. An approved manner shall include but not be limited to an outdoor fireplace, a fire pit surrounded by non-combustible materials to limit fire spread, commercially available fire containers, chimeneas, etc.

• Conditions that could cause a fire to spread to within 25 feet of a structure shall be eliminated prior to ignition. Combustible debris or materials must be removed from the area.

• Open fires and cooking fires shall be constantly attended by a competent person until such fire is extinguished.

• The competent person in charge at the fire shall have a garden hose connected to the water supply or other fire-extinguishing equipment, such as a 5 gallon bucket of water, a 2 ½ gallon water fire extinguisher or multi-purpose dry chemical fire extinguisher with a minimum 2A:10B rating, readily available for use. Readily available in this case is within 10 feet of the fire area or pit.

One other safety note to remember is to establish a kid-free zone around any fire, fire pit or chimenea. The area should extend to at least 36 inches out from the appliance or site. And please remember, even though a fire may be “out,” the ground under the fire (especially the sand here in Florida) and the metal fire pit or chimenea will still be hot enough to cause a burn.

For more information, please contact our Maitland Fire Marshal, Dennis Marshall, at 407-539-6228 or [email protected]

-Dennis Marshall, Fire Marshal

Maitland Fire Rescue Department