Cheektowaga, NY Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Chapter 77, Open Burning, rewritten in its entirety on April 9, 2024 by Local Law No. 3-2024, finds that 'the open burning of brush, wood, lumber, paper products, plastic, tires, garbage, refuse and other related items causes air pollution, is a fire hazard and is otherwise injurious to the public safety, health and welfare' (§ 77-1). The operative ban in § 77-2 is broad: 'no person shall burn, allow or permit to be burned any brush, wood, lumber, paper products, plastic, tires, chemicals, trash, garbage, refuse or other related items within the limits of the Town of Cheektowaga,' except as the chapter or state law separately permits.

Section 77-4 lets a public agency or fire district get a Town Board permit, through the Town Fire Inspector, to burn structures or other items for training, provided Erie County Health Department and DEC approvals are in hand. The Office of Fire Safety may also declare a Town-wide burn ban outright 'due to atmospheric and/or weather conditions' under § 77-7, on top of the year-round default prohibition. Enforcement under § 77-5 runs through any Cheektowaga Police officer, the Town Fire Inspector, or the Building Inspector, and the Local Fire Chief can order an illegal or hazardous fire extinguished on the spot. Chapter 77 applies Town-wide, 'excluding the villages of Sloan and Depew,' per § 77-9, which run their own fire codes.