NYS DEC Spring Burn Ban: What is allowed and what is not

The annual DEC Spring Burn Ban will go into effect starting March 16.

With aims of reducing the risk of wildfires, the spring burn ban runs through May 14 as an annual period where the DEC prohibits any sort of residential brush burning.

When any snowfall first melts away, the DEC says there is a significantly heightened risk of wildfires before there is enough green foliage flourished, which typically occurs sometime in early or mid-May in the North Country.

Without any vegetation to keep an outdoor fire in check, springtime is very often the time of year where wildfires are at a peak risk across New York.

***More on open burning in New York State***

During the burn ban, the DEC says backyard fire pits and campfires less than three feet in height and four feet in length, width, or diameter are allowed, as are small cooking fires.

Only charcoal or dry, clean, untreated, or unpainted wood can be burned. People should never leave these fires unattended and must extinguish them.

Burning garbage or leaves is prohibited year-round in New York State.

The DEC’s Spring Burn Ban was enacted in 2009 and since then, officials say the eight-year annual average number of spring fires decreased by 42.6 percent, from 2,649 in 2009, to 1,521 in 2018.

NYS DEC Burn Ban image.