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Fire Permits

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When is a fire permit required?
Fire permits are required year round in the County of Barrhead.  Call your Fire Guardian or the Fire Hall to receive a fire permit.  Click here to find the fire guardian for your division. 
 
Types of burns requiring a permit:
  • Burn Barrels or Incinerators
  • Brush Piles (Hand-Piled or Machine-Piled)
  • Yard Clean-Up/Debris
  • Dry Grass/Stubble
  • Swaths/Windrows
  • Bales
  • Old Buildings
  • Root Piles or Rows
  • Slab Piles
  • Smokehouse
  • Smudge/Sweat Lodge
Please also note that certain materials cannot be burned.  Click here for more information on prohibited debris.

Before lighting the fire:
You are required to phone the Fire Hall (780-674-2087) prior to starting the burn.  
If you plan to light the fire on a Sunday or Monday, call on the Friday before.  If there is no answer, PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE WITH THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
    • Your name and phone number
    • Your fire permit number
    • The legal land location of the fire (example: "Northwest corner of NE-14-64-6-W5M")
    • The approximate time you are starting the fire, and the approximate time that the fire will be extinguished 
      • NOTE: Fires must be extinguished before the expiry of your fire permit
    • A brief description of the fire (for example: "three brush piles")
      • REMINDER: No need to phone the fire hall prior to lighting a burn barrel, although a permit is still required
A permitted fire is required to be under control and supervised.  
 
Help Our Fire Department: 
Fire Truck
 Calling the Fire Hall before lighting your permitted fire helps improve effectiveness of the Fire Department as well as reduce costs and danger.  If the Fire Department receives a call from 911 that there is a fire, they are legally bound to respond.  Valuable time can be saved if the Fire Department knows ahead of time when fires are lit, what type of fire is burning, who is responsible for it, and how to easily get in touch with the landowner.
 
The information you provide will be posted on the message board at the Fire Department. 

Only the location of the fire will be posted on the Fire Department’s Facebook page to inform the Fire Fighters about permitted fires burning in our County.  Names and any other personal information will not be posted on the Fire Department's Facebook page.  
 
Check with your Insurance Agent to ensure that you have adequate insurance to cover property loss and fire fighting costs.