Outdoor Burning

These state rules were created to protect our homes, neighbors, and forests. Every year Red Lick VFD is called out many times to put out illegal fires that have gotten out of control. Sadly some people have lost their homes due to illegal fires.

Legal to Burn

State regulation allows the following open burning activities:

• Fires for cooking
• Recreational and ceremonial fires
• Construction site warming fires (contained, clean lumber only)
• Fires set for recognized agricultural practices
• Prescribed burning for forest, range, ecological, or wildlife management
• Fires set for weed abatement, disease, and pest prevention
• Fires set to dispose of natural growth from land clearing and storms
• Fires for disposal of household paper products
• Approved fire fighter training
• Fires set for the prevention of a fire hazard

Illegal to Burn

• Home & Farm:
  -- Animal bedding
  -- Hay
  -- Muck piles
  -- Grass clippings
  -- Agricultural plastic
  -- Structures of any kind including barns, sheds, and trailers
• Construction:
  -- Construction, demolition, or renovation
  -- debris
  -- Asbestos
  -- Shingles
  -- Drywall
  -- Structures of any kind
• Household:
  -- Food scraps
  -- Plastic or products containing plastic
  -- Cans
  -- Glass
  -- Styrofoam
  -- Diapers
• Wood materials:
  -- Fence posts
  -- Wood mulch, chips, or shavings
  -- Sawdust
  -- Painted, stained, or pressure-treated wood
  -- All wooden building materials
• Miscellaneous:
  -- Tires
  -- Furniture
  -- Carpeting
  -- Insulation
  -- Coated wire
  -- Rubber
  -- Used oil
  -- Waste from any business, school, church, or farm

When To Burn

Please check the weather report. If there is a chance of high winds in the next 24 hours, don't light that fire. Smouldering embers will spread in high winds and start start fires where you don't expect them.

Fire Hazard Seasons

• Spring Forest Fire Hazard Season
  -- Feb. 15 – Apr. 30
• Fall Forest Fire Hazard Season
  -- Oct. 1 – Dec. 15

Burning within 150 feet of any woodland or brushland area is allowed only in the evening hours between 6 pm and 6 am.

For more information please go to: https://eec.ky.gov/Environmental-Protection/Air/Pages/Open-Burning.aspx

Burn Planning

• Contact your local fire department dispatch before you burn.
• Beware of power lines, trees and structures.
• Clear all flammable materials, such as dry leaves and dry grass, from around the fire.
• Have water and hand tools, such as a shovel and/or rake, available.
• Have communication available or have someone nearby who can call for help in case of an emergency.
• Burn when the humidity is high and the wind is calm.
• Stay with the fire until it is completely out.