Prohibitions:
• It shall be unlawful to burn rubber, plastics, synthetics, or petroleum products.
• It shall be unlawful to burn refuse, garbage, solid waste, or debris, whether indoors or outdoors, in barrels or by other open fires. Including fireplaces, stoves or other containers.
• It shall be unlawful to leave any fire unattended by any person.
• It shall be unlawful to allow fire to escape or spread from the control of the person setting such fire or having charge thereof.
• It shall be unlawful to to dispose of hot ashes in any manner.

Permissible, so long as the burn does not violate any burn restrictions and is conducted in a safe manner and does not create a fire hazard:
• Barbeque or cooking fires (including wood, charcoal, propane or natural gas.)
• Fireplace or woodstove fires.
• Fires for branding cattle.
• Fires for warming (small wood fires in containers at homes or construction sites.)
• Fires ignited by fire personnel in the official discharge of their duties or for training purposes.
• Welding and heating processes involving torches and space heaters.
• Recreational fires that are no larger than 3 feet in diameter and have no more than a 3 foot flame length.

Open Burning Requiring a Permit:
• Burning of grass, weeds, brush and other ground cover.
• Burning of piles of slash, trimmings, or other natural vegetative material.
• Burning of scrap wood (clean wood only, no wood with chemical treatment.)
• Prescribed fires for game or forest management purposes.
• Burning for recreational and/or ceremonial purposes in appropriate site and/or containers.
• Recreational fires that are larger than 3 feet in diameter and have more than a 3 foot flame length.

 

Permits within Rio Fernando Fire District may be applied for with RFFD (rffd@rffd.org or 751-1608) or the Taos County Administrative Fire Chief. Permits must be applied for a minimum of 48 hours prior to the scheduled burn.
• All fires must be attended at all times. No burns shall be conducted without the presence of the Permittee. The Burn Permit shall be kept on the Permittee’s person at the burn site.
• A water source such as a 5-gallon bucket filled with water and/or garden hose and a hand tool such as a shovel or rake or 5-pound fire extinguisher shall be readily available at the time of ignition and throughout the burn.
• Permittees shall not burn any material within 300 feet of any residence or in the vicinity of any structure, vehicle, fuel tank, live vegetation, electrical wires, or watercourses.
• All burning must start no earlier than 30 minutes after sunrise and all burns must be extinguished 30 minutes prior to sunset.
• The burn shall be conducted in such a way as to avoid smoke obscuring visibility on nearby public roads and avoids interference with the health of nearby residents.
• If local weather or fuel conditions create an unacceptably high risk of an escape as judged by RFFD or Taos County Fire Chief, the ignition or burn must be halted.