Brentwood imposes limits on burning

By Adrienne A. Aguirre
Diversity Institute Fellow

08.11.03

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The Brentwood Board of Commissioners unanimously passed an ordinance Monday night restricting open burning of natural material.

“It’s been a long time in coming,” Commissioner Joe Reagan said.

Since the inception of its fire department in 1986, the city has allowed residents and developers to burn natural materials such as vegetation on personal property and leftover wood on construction sites.

“We have gotten so urbanized that it really isn’t practical anymore,” Fire Captain David Windrow said.

The fire department asked the commission to change the regulations for open burning after years of complaints about unattended fires at residences and construction sites. Residents complained that they could not sit on their porches because they were bothered by smoke and odor.

The complaints became so numerous that the city had to pay overtime to firefighters responding to the fires after hours.

“It cost taxpayers money every time we have to go out and put one out, and we have to put a lot of them out,” Windrow said.

The fire department averages five complaints a day during the peak season when leaves are down, he said.

However, Windrow said, the department is more concerned about how sending personnel to such calls could potentially delay response time to emergency calls.

“How do you put a dollar on that cost?” Windrow said.

The city also expressed concern about not meeting clean air limits for ozone pollution set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“The biggest thing that we are trying to do is meet environmental standards,” Fire Marshal Nancy Jones said.

Currently, developers and residents are able to obtain burn permits without much difficulty, she said.

Under the new ordinance, construction sites will be required to have excess materials hauled off for burning at their own expense. Vegetation may be burned on sites that are at least 20 acres large with the use of an air curtain destructor.

The destructor is a large machine that blows air with diesel fuel into a pit where the vegetation burns hotter and eliminates smoke. The cost of the equipment is about $40,000.

“It is a good practice to use the air curtain destructor to minimize the impact on as many people as you can,” said Windrow.

“We’re an urban area here and people have a right to breathe clean air,” Mayor Anne Dunn said.

Under the new ordinance, residents may burn vegetation at their home if they live on at least three acres. The burning must be done 350 feet from their property line and 50 feet from any structures.

Residents with homes that don’t meet these guidelines can have vegetation hauled off by the city at no expense. Permits for burning will still be required at the fire marshal’s discretion.

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Articles, photos by Summer 2003 Diversity Institute Fellows
Collection page for articles  07.29.03