Fire Policy 2022 09 01

Minutes, Fire Policy ad hoc group

1 September 2022, 7:00-8:00 p.m.

Topics: policy for safe use of fire pit
Note Taker: Kay
Attendees:  Joe, Jorge, Kay, Mary at 7:55.

Next steps: Kay will send her notes to Joe and Jorge.  They will add anything she missed before the notes are distributed to the community.  We will work on a proposal over email. 

Current situation:  Fires are being enjoyed without guidelines to ensure safety.  Residents are concerned.

Mission statement:  To provide a framework to ensure the safety and security of our community residents and property regarding campfires.  We were requested, if possible, to have a proposal ready for the next ACM, which is the 14th.  To be passed on the 14th, it would need to be ready for distribution by the 7th.

Pros of having a policy.  Lower danger of out-of-control fire threatening our residents, guests, and our property.  Con: Fires are a draw for community gatherings, and having a policy may discourage them.

Considerations

Should the person having the fire be required to notify the community?  (Assumes fire is on our property; not much we can do about smoke from outside neighbors. But our own firepit is closest to our swamp cooler intakes.)

Require people to verify that it isn't a no-burn day.  https://www.slco.org/health/air-quality/.

Safety equipment to be present.  Shovel, buckets of water already filled, bucket of sand, fire extinguisher? Fire blanket or rug?  A hose provides a limited on-going flow of water, while a bucket gives a large one-time amount of water.  Several buckets plus a hose in warm weather. 

Post a permanent sign with guidelines for fire safety.

Safety advice is to have a responsible person present at all times while the fire is lit.  Parents are responsible for their children's safety.  Children should never be left without supervision at a fire. 

Quiet hours need to be observed.

Fires need to be able to be put out within a reasonable length of time, so someone doesn't have to stay with it for hours (risking that they won't stay). Should there be restrictions on the size of the fuel and/or the overall size of a fire? How do we set objective criteria? (A burn container provides on-the-spot criteria. See "Construction of Fire Pit".)

Fires need to be totally absolutely put out before the fire pit is left unattended.

Not Getting Smoke in People's Homes

Issue: Swamp coolers suck in smoke The easiest way to stop this is to not have fires when swamp coolers are on.  How do we achieve this? 

- Limit on time of year fires are allowed? 

Swamp coolers are opened up in May and closed in September or October, so we'd have a restriction five months of the year.  The Health Department told Mary they only issue citations for no-burn violations during the winter. Salt Lake Valley has inversions during the winter. Water isn't as easily available during the winter -- The yard hydrant is shut off in the fall and not turned back on until at least May, and house bibs need to have hoses removed in the fall.

- No fires when the temperature is high enough people are likely to want their coolers on, e.g., above 75 F.

A fire lit in the morning when the temperature is low enough might not be ought before the temperature rose enough for swamp coolers.

When a low-pressure front moves through, it sometimes produces rain, lowering danger of wildfire; cleans out the pollution, lowering probability of a no-burn day; and drops the temperature the following day -- optimal for a fire. These happen year-around, including summer. Worth looking at extended forecast when scheduling.

Location of Fire Pit

Is the current location the best place for a fire pit?

Half of the year there isn't water available nearby.  The yard hydrant is shut off and unit's outside hose bibs have hoses disconnected to make them freeze-proof.

The north field has the biggest open area on the property.  Most other places have trees overhead. The tree on the spiral is close enough to the fire pit for sparks to land on it.  Move the ring further away? 

Construction of the Fire Pit

For safety, need at least a foot and better two between the fire and where people are sitting/standing.  The current design lets people sit right at the stone edge, so the fire needs to be in center, with space between the fire and the edge of the pit. However, there's nothing to stop someone from building a fire all the way to its edges. Further, the drop in level of the current pit is a safety hazard for kids and seniors -- someone could be tipped into the fire.

Want three concentric rings.  1. Edge of the fire, 2. edge of seating, 3. edge of cleared vegetation.

The person having the fire is responsible to ensure that all vegetation is cleared beforehand a set distance from where the fire will be.  What is the recommended distance?

A fire ring will enforce the width of the fire.  Could have a rule that wood must be inside the fire ring, including not above its top.
Jorge brought a picture of some galvanized steel fire rings.  Three feet across, open on the bottom. A foot high?

Could dig it into the ground.  (Lowering a fire lowers its sparks.) OTOH, need air circulation at the bottom for a good fire. Ample oxygen cuts down on smoke. Putting the ring up on blocks would let it shift around undesirably. Could put a ring on bricks with air gaps between, then put rings of bricks above that cemented in place to cradle the fire ring.

Have something that sticks up designating ring #2. Permanent. Discourage people from sitting next to the fire ring.  Someone stepping on it with the side of their foot will be tipped away from the fire. Consider ways to reduce trip hazard if people walk into the barrier with forward momentum:  Visibility even in low light, height, etc.

Many commercial roasting sticks are only 2'.  People could extend hands into a two-ft buffer zone, or the buffer zone could be 18".
With a three-foot ring and a four-foot seating zone, a 2' buffer zone gives a radius = 1.5 + 2 + 4 = 7.5 or an outer circle of 15 ft in diameter.  An 18" buffer would give 1.5 + 1.5 + 4 = 7' radius or 14' diameter for the outer vegetation-free zone.

Field trip to look at fire pit site.  Plenty of room between the spiral and the north garden to move the fire pit over, even if the vegetation-free zone needs to be larger.  Halfway between the edge of the spiral and the boundary of the garden.  Maybe also a little eastward, but not too close to the alley (which is not our property).

To encourage actually maintaining the vegetation-free zone, make the outer ring visible and permanent.  E.g., bricks set flush into the ground.  Circumference given R = 7.5, 2 pi R = 15 * 3.14 = 47.1 ft.  A dotted line, half as many bricks, would do.  OTOH, a full circle is less likely to get dug out by some well-meaning person.

The north garden has concrete edgers, about 4" high, a foot wide, top loops, slight curve.  Something similar would be excellent for circle #2. Set into the ground two inches to hold them in place, loops will stick up two inches (maybe too low). To get the number of edgers needed, divide the circumference by the length of an edger: Circumference of circle #2 at 2' = 3.14 * 7 = 23 ft; at 18" = 3.14 * 6 = 19 ft