UPDATE: Fire Chief Dave Elloway reports there were 228 illegal burn complaints received by Guelph Fire Department during 2020.
Backyard fires are prohibited in Guelph, minus some provincially directed exceptions, and city officials aren’t planning to revisit the issue anytime soon, as is happening in some municipalities.
“It is not on our 2021 workplan to address the bylaws necessary to consider permitting backyard fires,” said deputy CAO Colleen Clack-Bush. “That said, we understand that there has been interest from the public and members of council, and so we are looking to see how our neighbouring municipalities are addressing the matter.”
Backyard fires are allowed in Kitchener and Cambridge, though a permit is required in the latter. In response to a petition from residents, the City of Waterloo is currently considering changes to its ban. A report on the issue is being prepared and expected to be presented to council this fall.
A change.org petition is circulating to have the ban overturned in Guelph as well. The petition, Let Guelph have backyard fires, has more than 1,500 electronic signatures.
The ban is part of the city’s nuisance party bylaw, which Fire Chief Dave Elloway explained would need to be amended by council if changes are to be made. Though he wouldn’t recommend it.
“Our job in the fire service is to reduce the risk in the community. And if we are introducing something that is likely to contribute to a risk in the community, that has to be something that is done with the eyes wide open at the end of the day,” he said.
“One of the things that we pride ourselves on as a community is the tree canopy. … Once that fire gets into the trees, it not only affects you and your backyard but it now affects all of your neighbours.
“If that gets going and out of control, that’s a change in risk in the community.”
The Guelph Fire Department investigated 126 complaints under the nuisance party bylaw in 2017, as well as 108 in 2018 and 97 in 2019.
“That doesn’t include anything the police service or bylaw (officers) would have investigated,” said Elloway. “It’s just the ones that I’m aware of, that the fire service had some involvement in.”
The number of complaints investigated last year isn’t available yet, however the department responded to 11 illegal burn complaints one Saturday in June, nine of them within a two-and-a-half hour span.
“We have had a couple of backyard fires in the last little while that have gotten out of control and spread to bushy areas,” said Elloway, adding they were “reported quickly and extinguished before something like that could take off.”
Under the Ontario Fire Code, people are allowed to have a small, contained fire in their backyard for cooking purposes only and it must involve a grill, barbecue or spit.
Cooking marshmallows or hot dogs don’t qualify.
Propane and natural gas appliances approved by the Technical Standards and Safety Authority are also allowed, noted Elloway, provided they’re professionally installed and kept away from combustible materials.