Erie, PA Fire Regulations: Brush Clearance (2026)

Erie, Pennsylvania is in Erie County in the northwest corner of the Commonwealth, where the USDA Forest Service rates overall wildfire risk as low. The City of Erie is a dense urban core with little undeveloped fuel load, so the city does not impose California-style defensible-space zones. Vegetation that could feed a fire is regulated through two overlapping mechanisms. First, Article 1129 (Quality of Life Ticketing Program) lists 'high grass and weeds' among the conditions that contribute to property deterioration and authorizes any public officer to issue a quality-of-life violation ticket to the owner or occupant. Weeds are defined as all grasses, annual plants, and vegetation other than cultivated flowers, gardens, trees, and shrubs. Second, Erie enforces the 2018 International Property Maintenance Code through Code Enforcement (Office of Development Services); IPMC Section 302.4 requires that premises be maintained free of weeds or plant growth above the locally established height, which the Bureau of Code Enforcement applies at 10 inches. Code Enforcement (814-870-1480) inspects on complaint and issues a Notice of Violation requiring abatement within a stated period (typically 7 to 10 days). If the property owner fails to cut, the city may enter, mow, and bill the cost back to the owner as a municipal lien under 53 P.S. Section 7106. Pennsylvania DCNR also enforces a statewide Spring Fire Season open-burning prohibition under 25 Pa. Code Section 129.14 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during high-risk periods, but this is a burning restriction rather than a clearance requirement.