Burn Notifications
Guidance:
By getting a Burn Notification Number, you will help make sure that firefighters don’t respond unnecessarily to your controlled burn. Also, when you contact the local SPSA Protection Office, they can let you know if conditions are such that you should postpone your burn.
Under new regulations, these notifications have replaced burning permits.
For details about the new regulations, including exemptions for small fires, check out the Open Burning Synopsis document.
Eligibility:
If your community plans to burn in a provincial forest, in park land, or any quarter section wholly or partly within 4.5 kilometres of a provincial forest during the wildfire season, from April 1 to October 31, you must get a Burn Notification Number.
How to Apply:
Get your free burn notification number by contacting your local SPSA Response Centre Area Office during business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. When you call, have the following information ready:
- Name or organization responsible;
- Contact number(s);
- Mailing address;
- Email address (if applicable);
- Burn location(s); and
- Purpose of the burn.
After you obtain your Burn Notification Number, please call the SPSA's Control Burn Number: 1-866-404-4911, to let them know about your burn. This will help avoid unnecessary dispatches or firefighting resources to controlled fires.
Further Information:
Burn Notification Numbers expire at the end of the day following the day of issue. For brush piles only (defined in regulation as not less than two metres in height and three metres in diameter), the Burn Notification Number will expire at the end of the fourth day after the day of issue. All fires must be extinguished by the expiry date and time.
Remember: Your fire is your responsibility.
If you start a fire that spreads, or is likely to spread, you are responsible for covering the ministry's firefighting costs, whether you have a Burn Notification Number or not.
MORE RESOURCES
Best Practices for Open Burning