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Fire Ban Details
Prohibited Items Under Stage Two Fire Ban
The items below are NOT ALLOWED during a fire ban. Click the item tab for details.
- Fires
- Bonfires
- Chain Saw
- Charcoal Grill
- Chiminea Portable Outdoor Fireplace
- Fire Pit
- Fireworks
- Shooting
- Sky Lantern
- Smoking
- Tiki Torches
- Trash Burn
- Welding & Torches
The building, maintaining, attending, or using any fire is prohibited during a Stage 2 fire ban. Recreational fires and/or campfires are prohibited.
DEFINITION:
Recreational Fire: An outdoor fire burning material other than rubbish or debris where the fuel being burned is not contained in a portable outdoor fireplace or barbeque grill and has a total fuel area of 3 feet or less in diameter and 2 feet or less in height for pleasure, religious, ceremonial, cooking, warmth, or similar purposes. this includes fires in barrels and drums; fixed, permanent outdoor fireplaces; and barbeque pit fires.
Open burning is prohibited, including "bonfires" that requires a permit from the fire authority having jurisdiction. (2015 IFC 105.6.32)
A bonfire is NOT authorized during a Stage 2 fire ban.
Chain saws shall only be operated with a USDA or SAE approved spark arresting device properly installed and in proper working order, and having an extinguishing source, water, pressurized water extinguisher or a chemical pressurized fire extinguisher of not less than eight ounces capacity by weight, and possessing one large size pointed shovel with an overall length of at least thirty-six inches. All must be readily available for quick use.
Charcoal grills use either charcoal briquettes or all-natural lump charcoal as their fuel source. The charcoal, when burned, will transform into embers radiating the heat necessary to cook food.
A charcoal grill is NOT authorized during a fire ban, including in private residences, as it produces an open flame which is not liquid or gas fueled.
A chiminea is a freestanding front-loading fireplace or oven with a bulbous body and usually a vertical smoke vent or chimney.
Fires start very quickly in chimineas after ignition with papers and small pieces of wood. When in full burn after just 15 minutes, they give off tremendous heat due to their design which allows much more air to be drawn in than, for example, a fire basket.
A chiminea or a portable outdoor fireplace is NOT authorized during a fire ban, including in private residences, as it produces an open flame that is not liquid or gas-fueled.
DEFINITION:
Portable Outdoor Fireplace: A commercially purchased portable, outdoor, solid-fuel-burning fireplace that may be constructed of steel, concrete, clay, or other non-combustible material. A portable outdoor fireplace may be open in design or may be equipped with a small hearth opening and a short chimney or chimney opening at the top. These devices must be operated according to the manufacturers' instructions with all covers, screens, spark arresters, and grates in place. Portable outdoor fireplaces shall not be operated within 30 feet of a structure or combustible material.
A fire pit is a construction or device used to contain recreational fires and prevent them from spreading and turning into wildfires.
A fire ring has no bottom and is made of forged metal, stones, concrete, etc. which surround and contain a fire.
Wood or combustible burning fire pits or rings are NOT authorized during a fire ban, including in private residences, as it produces an open flame that is not liquid or gas-fueled.
The USE of ALL fireworks is prohibited in a fire ban. This includes "permissible fireworks" such as, but not limited to small fireworks devices designed to produce audible or visual effects by combustion, fountains, cones, spinners, sparklers, poppers, snake or glow worm pellets and other trick noisemakers. Please see the complete listing as defined below.
DEFINITION:
Fireworks as defined in section 12-28-101(3) C.R.S, and shall specifically include "permissible fireworks" as defined in section 12-28-101(8) C.R.S.
Shooting tracer rounds or explosive type targets are prohibited.
The use of an explosive initiation system requiring a burning fuse line is prohibited.
A sky lantern is uninhabited free floating device which includes a flame or other heating device to heat air as a lifting mechanism.
Most authorities require a permit prior to launching.
Sky lanterns are NOT authorized during a fire ban, including in private residences, as it produces an open flame which is not liquid or gas fueled.
Smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, or while stopped in an area of at least six feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all combustible material.
A bamboo torch that burns oil or gas common in Tiki culture which is also a popular party decoration.
A Tiki torch is NOT authorized during a fire ban, including in private residences.
Using any fire to burn trash, debris, fence rows or vegetation, or any campfire are NOT authorized during a fire ban, including in private residences, as it produces an open flame which is not liquid or gas fueled.
There are restrictions in a fire ban regarding operating an acetylene or other torch, welding, or the use of an explosive initiation system.
Welding and cutting torch appliances, as described below in the definition section, shall only be operated within an area that is barren or cleared of all combustible materials at least 30 feet in all directions from the operating equipment. (2015 IFC 308.1.6). This operation may only be done during a declared "Fire Ban" upon receiving a permit from the Fire Authority having jurisdiction over the operating location. (2015 IFC 105.6.31).
DEFINITION:
Welding and Cutting Torch Appliances: Gas cylinder mixtures, electric and/or portable powered welders, and cutting appliances that produce heat, flame, sparks, molten metal slag, etc.
Items Allowed Under a Fire Ban
Only devices that are liquid-fueled or gas-fueled are allowed. Simply put, gas grills, gas fire pits, gas stoves, and gas lanterns are allowed. The rule of thumb is whether or not the fire can be “turned off,” rather than “put out.” (This does NOT include any device that burns solid fuels such as wood or charcoal and which must be extinguished.)
Click the item tab for details.
Gas fire pits are allowed under a fire ban. The fire can be "turned off" rather than "put out".
Gas grills are allowed under a fire ban. The grill can be "turned off" rather than "put out".
Gas lanterns are allowed under a fire ban. The lantern can be "turned off" rather than "put out".
Gas stoves are allowed under a fire ban. The stove can be "turned off" rather than "put out".
Open fires or open burning by any federal, state, or local officer in the performance of official fire suppression functions.
DEFINITIONS
Open Fire and Open Burning: Any outdoor fire larger than a recreational fire and not contained within a portable outdoor fireplace. This includes but is not limited to campfires, bonfires, warming fires, the lighting of any fused explosives, permissible fireworks, the use of model rockets, "sky lanterns", and the burning of fence lines or rows, grasslands, fields, farmlands, ditches, rangelands, and wildlands. Permits from the fire district are required for open fires.
Undeveloped Areas: Lands that are not groomed, manicured or watered, where grasses, brush, and trees have been allowed to grow in a natural environment. This includes green belts that are not landscaped or manicured, open space lands, non-manicured parklands, and other areas where the fire hazard presented by the vegetation is determined to be an undue wildland fire hazard.
Exemptions approved under this temporary Stage 2 Fire Ban include the following permitted fires.
- Permitted fires by persons with a permit specifically authorizing the prohibited act such as professional fireworks displays. Contact must be made with the permitting authority to verify the status of permits issued prior to the establishment of burn restrictions.
- Fire Department/District training fires.
- Burning of explosive wastes by manufacturers of explosives in areas zoned for industrial use, when the burning is supervised by the fire protection district.
- Open fires or open burning by any federal, state, or local officer in the performance of official fire suppression functions.
Individuals operating under any of the above exemptions shall take adequate measures to prevent uncontrolled fires. Possible measures include, but are not limited to:
- Containers of adequate water or dry soil nearby.
- Shovels, fire extinguishers, or other extinguishing agents nearby.
- Coordination with the local fire department or district to be on scene or standby during an activity
Enforcement
Jefferson County deputies will strictly enforce the temporary fire ban and temporary fire restrictions in the unincorporated areas, to include federal lands. Pursuant to County Policy Part 3, Chapter 6, Section 2, authorizing the Declaration of Open Fire Bans, violations of these prohibitions, upon conviction, is punishable by a fine of not more than $600. Such act(s) violate section(s) 102.8 and / or 308.2.1 of the International Fire Code.
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Fire Information Hotline
Phone 303-271-8200
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Emergency Management & Preparedness
Physical Address
200 Jefferson County Parkway
Golden, CO 80419
Phone 303-271-4900Emergency Phone 911
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