Rohnert Park Municipal Code Ch. 8.20 Open Outdoor Fires

No person, firm, corporation, association or public agency shall ignite, cause to be ignited, permit to be ignited, or suffer, allow, or maintain any open outdoor fire within the city, except as provided in this chapter.

(Ord. 146 § 1, 1971)

These words, as used in this chapter shall have the following meanings:

A. "Flue" means any duct or passage for air, gases or the like, such as a stack or chimney.

B. "Open outdoor fire" means any combustion of combustible material of any type outdoors in the open, not in any enclosure, where the products of combustion are not directed through a flue.

(Ord. 146 § 2, 1971)

The following fires are excepted from provisions of this chapter:

A. Fires used only for cooking of food for human beings or for recreational purposes;

B. Any fire set or permitted by any public officer in the performance of official duty, if such fire is set or permission given for the purpose of weed abatement, the prevention of a fire hazard, including the disposal of dangerous materials where there is no safe alternate method of disposal, or in the instruction of public employees in the methods of fighting fires, which fire is, in the opinion of such official, necessary;

C. Fires set for the purpose of instruction of industrial employees in the methods of fighting fires, provided prior permission has been granted by the fire chief and by the air pollution control district;

D. An agricultural fire set by or permitted by the county agricultural commissioner, if such fire is set or permission given in the performance of the official duty of such county agricultural commissioner for the purpose of disease and pest prevention;

E. Safety flares for the combustion of waste gases;

F. 1.

Fires, set or permitted by the fire chief necessary to maintain and continue the growing of field crops as a gainful occupation, for the purpose of disposal of stubble and straw. The fire chief shall notify the air pollution control officer in advance of each fire set or permitted by him under this subsection,

2. Fires, set or permitted by the fire chief necessary to maintain and continue the grazing of animals as a gainful occupation, for the purpose of range improvement and grazing, improvement of land for wild life and game habitat, or such other beneficial use as the fire chief may deem warranted. A fire set or permitted under this subsection shall be permitted only upon an application for a permit made in writing to the fire chief not less than forty-five days before the proposed burn. The application shall contain the reason for the burn; a description of any prior burns on the same property, with a statement of results; a map sufficiently accurate to show the general location of the property affected and its relationship to adjoining properties; the method that will be followed to ignite, maintain and control the burn; a description of chemical or mechanical pretreatment of the range land. The fire chief shall notify the air pollution control officer and all affected fire officials in advance of each fire set or permitted by him under this subsection,

3. Fires, set or permitted by a city official having jurisdiction in the performance of official duty, necessary to control the growth of vegetation in irrigation ditches and canals. The fire official shall notify the air pollution control officer in advance of each fire set or permitted by him under this subsection;

G. Fires, set or permitted by a public official in charge of flood control activities, for the purpose of disposal of material which is lying or growing within natural channels or flood control channels which fires are in the opinion of such official a necessary incident to the clearing and maintenance of watercourses and flood control channels for the specific purpose of preventing or eliminating a flood hazard, provided that the air pollution control officer has given prior approval;

H. Except in cases of emergency, permits for setting of any fire or fires permitted by paragraphs B, C, D and E of this section shall be granted by the public official having jurisdiction and only after consultation with the air pollution control officer;

I. Any fire if it can be demonstrated that nothing but carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, or water vapor is emitted under all operating conditions.

(Ord. 146 § 3, 1971)

Any person violating any of the provisions or failing to comply with any of the mandatory requirements of the ordinances of the city, is guilty of a misdemeanor unless by ordinance the violation is made an infraction. Except in cases where a different punishment is prescribed by any ordinance of the city, any person convicted of a misdemeanor under the ordinances of the city shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Every violation determined to be an infraction is punishable by

A. A fine not exceeding fifty dollars for a first violation;

B. A fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for a second violation of the same ordinance within one year;

C. A fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars for each additional violation of the same ordinance within one year.

Each such person is guilty of a separate offense for each and every day during any portion of which any violation of any provision of the ordinances of the city is committed, continued or permitted by any such person, and he shall be punished accordingly.

(Ord. 293 §§ 1, 2, 1975: Ord. 255 § 1, 1975: Ord. 146 § 6, 1971)