Camping In Ontario Update Newsletter June 2019 June 2013 | Page 4

CAMPING IN ONTARIO UPDATE | 4

Open Air Fires and Outdoor Burning
Accident at Mad River Golf Club
From the Barrie Examiner
CLEARVIEW TWP., April 2013 — An employee at the Mad River Golf
Club was sent to hospital Monday afternoon after receiving burns.
According to Huronia West OPP Const. Mark Kinney, the man was
initially transported to Collingwood General and Marine Hospital
and was to have been airlifted to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto for
treatment. “He received second and third-degree burns,” Kinney said,
adding he could not confirm whether or not the man, an employee at
the golf club, was actually airlifted to the Toronto hospital. Clearview
Township firefighters and county paramedics also attended the scene
on County Road 42.
The incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. while the employee was
burning brush. Kinney said the Ministry of Labour is investigating, as
is the case when any injuries occur at a workplace.

Outdoor Burning
Article 2.6.3.4. of the Ontario Fire Code reads “Open air burning
shall not be permitted unless approved (by the Chief Fire Official), or
unless such burning consists of a small confined fire, supervised at all
times, and used to cook food on a grill or a barbecue”
.
If a municipality is not located within a Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) designated fire region, open air burning must meet the Fire
Code. In addition, if your municipality has a permit system, then a permit must also be obtained and the requirements followed.
If a municipality is located within an MNR designated fire region,
open air burning must meet both the Forest Fires Prevention Act
(FFPA) and Fire Code requirements. An MNR burn permit is not required for small scale burning if certain conditions are met. Otherwise,
a permit is required and the MNR will evaluate the safety precautions
proposed by an applicant before granting or denying a burn permit.
Also, the Fi re Code requirement for approved burning must be satisfied. In addition, if your municipality has a permit system, then a permit must be obtained and the requirements followed.
For more information on open air burning, see Communiqué
2005-09 (March 17, 2005) Open Air Fires and Burning Practices: Considerations for Municipalities (below).

Open Air Fires and Burning Practices:
Considerations and Options for Municipalities
Communiqué 2005-09. March 17, 2005

Changes relevant to open air burning were made to the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997, and became effective on January 1,
2003. In addition, challenges were made in recent years to the application and enforcement of Article 2.6.3.4. of the Ontario Fire Code.
Within this context, the Office of the Fire Marshal developed this
communiqué and the attached questions and answers with the in-

tention of providing guidance to fire and other municipal officials on
measures that could be considered to manage open air burning practices within their communities.
This communiqué supersedes the following: Fire Code Opinion
dated November 1996 on Article 2.6.3.4.; Fire Marshal’s Communiqué
2000-08, issued on March 23, 2000; and Fire Marshal’s Communiqué
96-048, issued on December 17, 1996.
There are a variety of measures, acts, regulations, and practices that
could apply locally to control open air burning within municipalities.
This communiqué will focus on four of these:
1 Article 2.6.3.4. of the Ontario Fire Code;
2 Forest Fires Prevention Act (FFPA) and Ontario Regulation
207/96;
3 municipal by-laws;
4 inspection orders under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act,
1997.

Ontario Fire Code Article 2.6.3.4.
Article 2.6.3.4. of the Ontario Fire Code states:
2.6.3.4. Open air burning shall not be permitted unless approved, or unless such burning consists of a small, confined
fire, supervised at all times, and used to cook food on a grill or
a barbecue.
Article 2.6.3.4. is found in Part 2, Building and Occupant Fire Safety,
of the Ontario Fire Code and must therefore be interpreted within
the scope and application of Part 2, which includes providing for the
safety of occupants of buildings “through the elimination or control
of fire hazards in and around buildings” as stated in Subsection 2.1.1.
,
There are situations where open air burning is not regulated. These
include:
• The fire is kept small and is used to cook food on a grill or barbecue. This exemption is specified in Article 2.6.3.4.
• The burning has been approved by the chief fire official. This
exemption is also specified in Article 2.6.3.4. Chief fire official
means the assistant to the Fire Marshal who is the municipal fire
chief or a member or members of the fire department appointed
by the municipal fire chief under Subsection 1.1.8. or a person
appointed by the Fire Marshal under Subsection 1.1.8.
• The burning occurs on farm property used for farming purposes
and involves an agricultural related burning operation. Farming
operations are exempted under Article 1.1.6.1., which states: “A
farm building with an occupant load of not more than one person per 40 m2 of floor area during normal use and other premises on a farm used for farming purposes are exempt from the