Hamburg Village, NY Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

Chapter 132 of the Village of Hamburg Code is the village's own outdoor burning law, adopted by the Board of Trustees on 4-6-1970 as § 8-2 of the 1970 Code. Section 132-1A prohibits any person from burning within the village any rubbish or any other material of any kind or nature that gives rise to unwholesome, offensive, or deleterious odors, gas, or smoke. The test looks at what the fire produces, so the ban reaches any burn that throws off those odors, gas, or smoke.

Section 132-1B states that the chapter is not intended to forbid the igniting or burning of cooking fires in standard outside barbecues, fireplaces, or grills, provided that such fires are properly supervised. Chapter 132 does not use the words fire pit, bonfire, or recreational fire, and it prints no distance, size, season, or hour limit. The exception's text covers cooking fires and says nothing about fires lit only for warmth or enjoyment.

The Fire Code side sits in Chapter 123. Section 123-10A(1)(b)[11] lists Section 307 of the Fire Code of New York State, "Open Burning, Recreational Fires and Portable Outdoor Fireplaces," among the activities that need an operating permit, and describes the permitted activity as "Conducting open burning, not including recreational fires and portable outdoor fireplaces." An operating permit application goes in writing to the Code Enforcement Officer (§ 123-10B), and permits for the activities in that list run for a specified period that is in no event more than one year unless a different limit applies (§ 123-10F). Under § 123-3A the Code Enforcement Officer comes from the Town of Hamburg Building Inspection Department under the shared services agreement, unless the Village designates its own official. This page does not restate the state Fire Code's section 307 standards, because the Village Code names that section without reprinting it.