Union, NY Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Section 148-13 of the Code of the Town of Union is the fire rule for Town parks. Subsection A provides that no person shall start a fire in the park, except small fires for culinary purposes in park grills or privately owned grills or fires in the places or designated areas approved by the Commissioner. It then adds the ban authority: the Commissioner can, at his discretion, prohibit fires at any location or for any purpose when necessary for the protection of park property. That discretion is the Town's burn-ban power inside the parks, and it lets the Commissioner shut down even the culinary grill exception when conditions call for it. Subsection B requires that no person starting or using fires leave the immediate vicinity of the fires before they are extinguished, and allows the dumping of hot ashes or fire from portable picnic grills only in designated receptacles. Section 148-3 defines the Commissioner as the Deputy Commissioner of Public Works for Parks or authorized personnel.

Related park rules reinforce the fire rule. Section 148-5A permits leaving behind only the refuse, ashes, garbage and other material of a picnic, camp or other permitted activity, and only in receptacles provided. Section 148-6B prohibits fireworks or explosive substances except for authorized Department employees or agents. Section 148-21 closes parks from 9:30 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. except in emergencies or with a written permit.

A separate chapter covers fires in outdoor furnaces. Under § 144-6A only firewood and untreated lumber are permitted to be burned in any outdoor furnace and burning any other material is prohibited. Section 144-6 also limits furnaces to the agricultural zoning district, lots of three acres or more, a setback of not less than 100 feet from the nearest lot line, and operation only between September 1 and May 31 of the next year. A building permit from the Town Building Official is required under § 144-4. Chapter 148 itself addresses parks only and does not regulate fires on private lots.