St. Tammany Parish Fire Protection District #4 has a response area that includes the City of Mandeville, the entire 4th ward of St. Tammany Parish and River Oaks Subdivision.
The fire district enforces the following code of ordinances for the City of Mandeville and St. Tammany Parish regarding Open Burning:
Open Burning within the City of Mandeville
City of Mandeville Mandeville Fire Prevention and Protection ordinances
Sec. 8-6. – Outdoor burning prohibited.
No person shall cause or allow the outdoor burning of waste material or other combustible material on any property owned by said person or under his/her control except as provided in section 8-7.
(Ord. No. 97-30, 7-24-97)
Sec. 8-7. – Exceptions to prohibition against outdoor burning.
Outdoor burning of combustible material may be conducted in the situations enumerated below if no public nuisance is or will be created and if the burning is not prohibited by and is conducted in compliance with other applicable laws and with regulations and orders of governmental entities having jurisdiction, including air control regulations and orders. The authority to conduct outdoor burning under this ordinance does not exempt or excuse the person responsible from the consequences of or the damages or injuries resulting from the burning.
(1) Outdoor burning in connection with the preparation of food.
(2) Campfires and fires used solely for recreational purposes or for ceremonial occasions.
(3) Small fires, by tradesmen and contractors, in such activities as construction, street repair, installation or repair of sewer, water, electric, telephone mains, and services.
(4) The operation of contrivances using open flames such as welding torches, blow torches, portable heaters, and other flame making devices.
(5) Fire purposely set as part of an organized program of drills for the training of fire fighting personnel or for testing fire fighting materials or equipment if the following conditions are met:
- The duration of the burning held to the minimum required for such purposes;
- The burning is conducted only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.;
- The burning is controlled so that it does not cause a traffic hazard.
(Ord. of 4-6-14; Ord. No. 97-30, 7-24-97)
Open Burning for St. Tammany Parish and Outside the City of Mandeville
This regulation can be found by the following link to the ordinances for St. Tammany Parish
Sec. 26-3. – Fires for yard debris.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, the burning of leaves and yard debris, such as pine needles, pine cones, shrubs, brush and cut timber shall not be a violation of this chapter, provided that:
(1) The fire area shall not be greater than eight feet in diameter;
(2) The height of burning materials shall not be greater than four feet;
(3) Burning shall only occur between sunrise and one hour before sunset;
(4) The fire site shall not be unattended;
(5) A functional water hose shall be located next to the fire site;
(6) The fire site shall be located at least ten feet from the nearest property line;
(7) There shall be no more than one fire site per homesite or parcel of land;
(8) The fire site shall be located at least 50 feet from any structure, if nearer than 50 feet from a structure, a container must be used;
(9) The fire shall not emit dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas, soot or cinders in unreasonable quantities so as to violate section 26-1.
A violation of any of the above restrictions may result in the fire site being considered a nuisance under this chapter.
(b) The restrictions listed in subsection (a) of this section that are set forth in subsections (a)(1) through (8) of this section shall not apply in the event that the controlled fire or open burning of leaves and yard debris, as stated herein, is located a distance of 1,000 feet or more from the nearest dwelling. However, such controlled fire or open burning of leaves shall not present a fire hazard and, as provided in subsection (a)(9) of this section, shall not emit dense smoke, noxious fumes, gas, soot or cinders in unreasonable quantities so as to violate section 26-1.
(c) The provisions of this section are not intended nor shall they lessen the responsibility of all persons to abide by other ordinances of this parish, and laws of this state governing the matters herein addressed.
(d) Prohibited:
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the provisions of section 14-26 or any other provision, the burning of leaves and yard debris, such as pine needles, pine cones, shrubs, brush and cut timber in the following areas is strictly prohibited to-wit:
- Those areas of Council District 4 that are located east of the Tchefuncte River. Accordingly and for clarification, those areas of Council District 4 situated west of the Tchefuncte River, which areas are currently within the boundaries of voting precincts MD1 and 102, are not included within the prohibition.
- The area bounded on the north by Interstate 12, on the south by the north bank of Ponchitolawa Creek, on the west by the eastern bank of the Tchefuncte River and on the east by the western right-of-way of U.S. Highway 190, which area was formerly within the boundaries of Council District 4 and comprises the area within the current boundaries of voting precinct 306.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the provisions of section 14-26 or any other provision, the burning of leaves and yard debris, such as pine needles, pine cones, shrubs, brush and cut timber on any lot or parcel of land less than 12,600 square feet in size within any parish approved subdivision is strictly prohibited.
(Code 1998, § 14-003.00; Ord. No. 04-0943, 8-5-2004; Ord. No. 05-1213, 12-1-2005; Ord. No. 08-1826, 6-5-2008; Ord. No. 09-2128, 9-3-2009; Ord. No. 11-2614, 10-6-2011)
State Law reference— Authority of parish to enact ordinances prohibiting and regulating the burning of leaves, limbs, branches or yard debris as public nuisances, R.S. 33:1236(31).