Tips on Regulating Fire Pits in Community Associations

The popularity of home fire pits has surged over the past few years, but they come with risks. Here’s what you need to know to help your clients keep a lid on potential injury and property damage.

The spreading of a fire from a pit to other areas isn’t the only concern associations should have about residents’ fire pits. The smoke generated can prove fatal, and users can’t control the wind direction. Harmful levels of smoke can accumulate in a unit unbeknownst to its residents.

The embers and ashes left after a fire has died out also pose a danger. Improper disposal can spark a fire. Ashes might retain sufficient heat to start a fire days later if placed near other combustibles.

That’s why many state and local governments regulate outdoor recreational fires. The first step for any association considering the issue is to check whether such fires are even legally permissible in their locale.

“Some municipalities won’t allow any kind of open burn,” says Edward Hoffman, Jr., founder and managing member of Hoffman Law LLC, a community association law firm with offices in Pennsylvania.

If that’s the case, your clients have their answer and should impose a blanket ban on fire pits, with no exceptions.

Sometimes, though, a municipality will allow fire pits, but with limitations. “Ordinances often are very specific in that you can’t have fire pits on the deck, within so many feet of a structure, or in a wooded area,” Hoffman says. The ball is then in the association’s court when it comes to regulating fire pits beyond that — assuming it has the authority.

In a new article, we discuss what your association clients need to know about regulating fire pits. Specifically, you’ll discover 6 recommended rules and regulations that your association clients can and should use to regulate fire pits in their communities.

Read the full article now: Hot Tips for Regulating Fire Pits

Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President