Nashua, NH Fire Regulations: Brush Clearance (2026)

Nashua, a southern New Hampshire suburban city of about 91,000, has no municipal defensible-space or brush-clearance ordinance comparable to a wildland-urban interface (WUI) code. Brush and dry-vegetation hazards inside Nashua are regulated through three layers: (1) The New Hampshire State Fire Code, which adopts NFPA 1 (Uniform Fire Code), 2021 edition, and NFPA 101, 2021 edition, effective August 13, 2024 under RSA 153:5. NFPA 1 includes provisions governing storage and outdoor accumulation of combustible waste materials, and chapters that may apply to wildland-fire hazards if the State Board of Fire Control retains them. (2) RSA Chapter 227-L (Woodland Fire Control), administered by the NH Division of Forests and Lands. RSA 227-L vests local forest fire warden authority in the municipality - the Nashua Fire Chief and assistant wardens may inspect land where there is reasonable cause to believe a fire hazard exists, and may require the responsible party to abate the condition. (3) Nashua City Code Chapter 110 (Burning, Open), which requires a permit from Nashua Fire Rescue for any open burning of solid-fuel materials except charcoal, and Chapter 156 (Fire Prevention), which incorporates the city's fire-prevention authority through the Fire Marshal's Office. Nashua's fire-shed is mostly built-out residential and commercial neighborhoods rather than continuous forest, with the largest contiguous vegetated areas in Mine Falls Park (along the Nashua River), the Pennichuck Brook watershed, and along the Merrimack River corridor. Routine yard cleanup and combustible-waste removal is handled under the City's solid-waste rules; large brush piles require a burn permit and must comply with the 25-foot (Category 1) or 50-foot (Categories 2 and 3) setback from any structure.