One of the best parts of getting away camping or visiting a cabin for many people is to build a fire outdoors. There is something about a how a fire wards off the gathering chill of night that makes them a highlight.
You can capture some of that togetherness in your own backyard with a fire pit, so long as Calgary area fire officials don’t have a burn ban on. Mirage Landscaping is a Calgary landscaping company offering much more than just routinely scheduled lawn maintenance.
Fire pit safety will make the benefits of a permanent outdoor fire pit even more memorable.
Know The Rules
Like any big city with a professional fire department, Calgary has a number of rules regulating outdoor burning. These are some of the important points to know:
- All outdoors premises fires must be started in a bare earthen fire pit in the ground or must be located in an above ground receptacle made of inflammable material.
- The resulting fire cannot be within 2m of any property line, fencing, structure, or overhanging vegetation.
- The fire must be kept to a reasonable size, no more than 1m in height and breadth.
- Fires must be attended at all times.
- Fires may not be started before 10AM and must be fully extinguished by 1AM. The fire site must be completely cold before abandoning it.
- You may not burn hazardous or foul smoking materials within your residential fire pit. You are also not permitted to burn unseasoned firewood.
- You must have at hand some effective means by which to put out the fire if it should grow out of the control of its designated area.
A “bylaw” may sound benign, but these fire regulations carry a bite with them, in the form of civil fines ranging between $500 to $5,000, or referral for criminal charges in serious cases.
Use Common Sense
First, know the prevailing wind in your burn area. It only takes citizen complaints to initiate investigations of your fire pit use, so it pays to be a good neighbor. If the prevailing wind is always blowing noxious smoke across a downwind property where the owners or tenants don’t appreciate it, you will trigger complaint calls.
If you receive a complaint, it would be advisable to move your fire pit if it is portable. If it is a fixed site, it may be possible to build a chimney over the fire pit in order to elevate and better disperse the smoke that drifts over the neighborhood.
Another bit of common sense is to strictly monitor both children and pets around your fire pit. Remember, as the evening wears on, visibility by a flickering fire illuminating the darkness is not good. Leaving firewood near the pit, where it can become forgotten and tripped upon, is inadvisable. People and animals walk around fire pits, so make sure they have clear footing.
Mirage Landscaping Company of Calgary Builds Patios and Fire Pits
An above ground metal fire pit or chiminea, even the aluminum ones, will eventually corrode and become structurally unsafe. We know the best way to build a fire pit and patio to maximize your enjoyment and minimize risk.
When you get a free, no obligation, quote on building a backyard fire pit from Mirage Landscaping, your imagination, and the bylaw restrictions, are your only limits. From a simple brick enclosure of a sand pit in the ground, to a social area with seating around a cooking fire, we can build anything you can dream up.