Open Burning Season Starts in Massachusetts

By Charlene Arsenault (Patch Staff)

Open burning season started on Thursday and ends on May 1 in Massachusetts in communities where it is allowed.

On its site, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection lists 22 communities that do not allow open burning at all. They are: Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Chicopee, Everett, Fall River, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Medford, New Bedford, Newton, Somerville, Springfield, Waltham, Watertown, West Springfield and Worcester.

Where burning is allowed, a permit is required from the local fire warden or fire chief.

“Weather conditions can change rapidly, especially in the spring, and fire wardens will determine on a daily basis when it is safe to conduct open burning,” it says on the DEP website. “If winds kick up or other atmospheric conditions change suddenly, making it unsafe to burn, permits can be rescinded (cancelled).”

Find out more provisions and laws surrounding open burning, including materials that can (or cannot) be burned. For instance, did you know raspberry stalks and infected beehives can be burned, but grass, hay and leaves are strictly prohibited. And as if we had to tell you, you can’t burn a tire, either.

Learn lots more on safety, as well as burning alternatives and how to obtain a permit, on the DEP website.