Ahead of a scheduled public hearing on Thursday, July 17, Southbury’s Fire Marshal clarified the reasoning behind a proposed open burning ordinance.
In a letter addressed to the Board of Selectmen, dated July 10, 2025, Fire Marshal Derrek Guertin explained that the current application or permitting process will not be changed in regards to the proposed ordinance.
But what it would do is to help define small, recreational campfires or bonfires to help differentiate them from open burning of brush.
He says that the local Fire Department will often respond to calls for “smoke in the area” and then tell residents to put out the fire and obtain an open burning permit.
“This is not done out of malice, but the lack of a definition of a recreational fire,” Guertin said in the letter.
The full text of the proposed open burning ordinance can be found here.
It is implied that this ordinance would help both residents and emergency responders distinguish between casual backyard burns and regulated open burning.
The list of prohibited materials will not be changed under the ordinance, which remains consistent with existing state regulations issued by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).
The ordinance also lays out a procedure for penalties, allowing officials to effectively enforce the open burning permit process against repeat offenders who may not be following the rules.
Guertin says he treats local situations as teachable moments for residents to learn more about the process.
“I err on the side of having an educational discussion with someone when an issue arises before jumping to an immediate consequence,” he writes.
Details about the open burning process can be found here.
Thursday’s public hearing will also include a separate proposed ordinance to update expense reimbursement for emergency services volunteers.
The ordinance would double the amount of reimbursed out-of-pocket expenses paid to each eligible volunteer, up to, but not exceeding, $2,000.
This ordinance would also update language and remove mentions of the now defunct Heritage Village Ambulance Association, as well as the The Southbury Training School Fire Department, now known and operated under the state’s Department of Developmental Services Fire and Emergency Services.
The full text of the proposed expense reimbursement ordinance can be found here.
The Southbury Record 