Haverhill, MA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Haverhill regulates outdoor burning through two adjoining code sections. Section 128-6 flags illegal burning generally as a violation of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 48, Section 13, prosecutable through District Court. Section 128-6.1, added by City Council Doc. 73 on June 10, 2008, lays out the City's own permit and fine structure. Anyone who wants to burn brush, leaves, or other permitted debris outdoors within city limits must first obtain an open burning permit. The fee is $10, but only for the first permit issued to that person in a calendar year; every additional permit the same person is granted that same year is issued free, a schedule set by a 2009 amendment (Doc.

41). Property owners engaged in agricultural operations can instead obtain an agricultural burning permit for a flat $50, with no free-permit provision noted in the code. Burning without the required permit is treated as illegal burning under Subsection A(2), and the code sets an escalating fine schedule tied to how many times the same violator has been caught: no charge for a first offense, $50 for a second, and $100 for the third and every subsequent offense. Permits are issued through the Haverhill Fire Department, which administers Chapter 128's fire-related fee schedule alongside inspections for smoke and sprinkler systems.

Because open burning is also governed by state Department of Environmental Protection seasonal rules and MGL c. 48, a City permit does not override those separate state restrictions on timing or materials; it only satisfies Haverhill's own local permit requirement.