[sunrico90]

I know of people that still burn their garbage regarless of the rules. What about in your area? I have a few friends that have a burn pit with chairs, cooler for refreshments, and they make a small party almost every Friday. Do you have a burn pit?

OUTDOOR BURNING INFORMATION FOR SANTA ROSA COUNTY

It is illegal to burn household garbage (including paper products), treated lumber, rubber materials, tires, pesticides, paint, and aerosol containers.

At this time, dry (not green) vegetative debris such as grass clippings, pine straw, leaves, tree limbs and shrub trimmings can be legally burned between 8 a.m. and one hour before sunset if it is in a pile not larger than 8 ft diameter and located on the property where the debris originated and is:

not closer than 25 ft to a wooded area or the owner’s residence;
not closer than 50 ft from a paved public road;
and not closer than 150 ft from other occupied buildings.


Burning material in a pile larger than 8 ft. diameter, or burning any area of land, requires an authorization from the Florida Division of Forestry (850 957-6145), and is subject to additional restrictions.

[BlueWillowPlate]

I see people burning stuff outdoors every other week here in Gulf County.
I haven't checked them out too closely, but they usually appear to be branches and other vegetation, and usually they are small, but not always.
There's a small fire several blocks down even as I type this.

[ellie]

I have a year's worth of sticks piled in my rather large yard. I'm waiting till the burn ban is lifted or we get some light rain, so I can take care of it - hopefully in the form of some sort of bacchanalian romp. We had a good one last year, so it's worth the wait.

After the hurricanes two years ago I had 3 giant burn piles placed strategically around the yard. Boy was it fun getting rid of those.

[sunrico90]

Lake County has become the latest in Central Florida to issue a burn ban because of dry conditions.

The Department of Public Safety passed the ban for all unincorporated areas yesterday. That means no outdoor burning, including trash and campfires.

[tallrick]

Lucky for me I can burn this stuff in the gassifier, and get free electricity, hot water and air conditioning from it too!

[manydoglady]

I'm in Citra and my neighbors burn trash regularly. The county is extremely lax about it - no discussion of the air pollution it generates, only a concern about fire. I can't believe this is still going on in the US in 2010. The dump is free, why burn trash? I can understand yard waste, though why not compost leaves? The rules state DRY yardwaste, yet the people here have no problems with ruining the air for everyone. A couple of weeks ago, a neighbor was burning a tree stump. It billowed clouds of smoke. There was a sheriff's officer here at the time and I asked him about the fire. He had seen it and I asked him if it was legal - his response? I don't know-call the fire department.

It's the worst air I've ever had to live with, between the burning trash and the junk cars with disgusting exhaust. Florida needs to wake up like so many other states - ban all burning. I'll be sad because I like a little bonfire now and then, too, but the planet and breathing is more important.

I know where I lived prior to here on an Indian Reservation 3000 miles away, people burned their toxic trash in their woodstoves...this past winter folks were doing it in their fireplaces. Selfish selfish people. Lucky for them to be able to burn, sad for all of us being poisoned.

[southernnaturelover]

In the panhandle landowners use controlled burns to clear the underbrush from their forests, and it's actually part of the natural ecosystem (many transplants dont know this). People complain about the smoke and the so-called "air pollution", but they just have to deal with it. The state forestry dept performs these burns as well.



I never see people burning actual trash (except maybe cardboard boxes), but I see plenty of people burning brush piles.

[tmozer]

Driving from SW Florida through Georgia and up through SC, there was smoke everywhere last week. Not sure why. But I feel that outdoor burning should be banned.

[southernnaturelover]

Originally Posted by tmozer

Driving from SW Florida through Georgia and up through SC, there was smoke everywhere last week. Not sure why. But I feel that outdoor burning should be banned.

It could have been prescribed burning, and it's completely necessary to eliminate debris build up and control invasive brush. Without this controlled burning there is increased risk of wildfires that get out of control (like in CA).

[manstersr]

I have neighbors that constantly burn household garbage, at least it smells like plastic not leaves or brush. I would ask them nicely to stop but if they don't they'll know I am the one that doesn't like it so I just call the city non-emergency fire dept. line and ask them to check them out to see if it is illegal. So far it has stopped one neighbor but others pick up where they left off. AGGHHH!!!, we can't even enjoy the nice weather and open our windows which we paid a lot of money for so we could. What is wrong with people, just put your garbage in a can and put it to the street, you pay taxes for pick up.