Scranton, PA does not have a city-designated Wildfire Hazard Severity Zone. Pennsylvania has not adopted IFC Chapter 49 (Requirements for Wildland-Urban Interface Areas) statewide, and Scranton has not adopted it locally through Chapter 243. The surrounding Pocono region and DCNR Tobyhanna State Forest area do see seasonal wildfire activity, but the city itself is a dense urban core with no WHSZ overlay.
Unlike California (Government Code Section 51178 / CCR Title 14 Sections 1280.00 et seq.) or other western states, Pennsylvania does not impose statewide Wildfire Hazard Severity Zone (WHSZ) mapping or defensible-space requirements. The Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code at 34 Pa. Code Chapters 401-405 adopts the IBC, IRC, and IFC for use across the Commonwealth, but IFC Chapter 49 ('Requirements for Wildland-Urban Interface Areas') and the companion International Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC) have not been adopted at the state level. Scranton's local fire code at Chapter 243 (which adopts the BOCA National Fire Prevention Code) does not add Chapter 49 either, and there are no Hillside Fire Safety overlays in the Scranton Zoning Ordinance. Lackawanna County and the surrounding Pocono region (including the PA DCNR-administered Tobyhanna State Forest to the south and east of the city, and Lackawanna State Park to the north) do experience seasonal wildfire activity, primarily during the statewide Spring Fire Season (March 1 - May 25) and Fall Fire Season (October 1 - December 1). PA DCNR Bureau of Forestry maps Pennsylvania's wildland-urban interface boundary, which captures many homes statewide as a planning category but does not create a regulatory zone. Scranton residents in the Hill Section, East Mountain, and other neighborhoods abutting wooded county or DCNR land should still observe the 25 Pa. Code Section 129.14 open-burning rules and the city's 8-inch vegetation height limit. New construction in Scranton is permitted under the PA UCC with no wildfire-specific overlays.
Because there is no adopted WHSZ in Scranton or Pennsylvania broadly, there are no wildfire-zone-specific violations or fines. Underlying open-burning, vegetation, and fire code requirements are still enforced by the Scranton Bureau of Fire and LIPS, and PADEP can assess civil penalties up to $25,000 per day under the Air Pollution Control Act for unauthorized burning during high-risk periods. DCNR may issue separate citations during declared Fire Season emergency closures.
Scranton, PA
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See how Scranton's wildfire zones rules stack up against other locations.
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