Is It Safe To Burn Leaves?
Burning leaves is a hassle and a chore that many homeowners must deal with throughout autumn. It’s such a common fall chore that many people don’t even think about the implications. Is it safe to burn leaves?
Burning leaves is relatively unsafe as it releases carbon monoxide which is harmful to humans and the environment. There is also a huge risk of wildfires if the wind speed exceeds 5 miles per hour and the humidity is below 35%. You must prioritize fire safety and keep an extinguisher on hand if you plan to burn leaves this autumn.
Avoid building a huge fire, and instead slowly feed leaves into it as that’s much easier to manage. Follow along as we explore whether or not it’s safe to burn leaves and highlight safety measures.
Is It Illegal To Burn Leaves In Your Backyard?
It is illegal to burn leaves in your backyard in some municipalities. States typically don’t enforce bans on burning leaves, and they leave it up to towns and cities. Some municipalities ban leaf burning outright, whereas others require a permit to burn leaves.
In that case, you may face fines and legal penalties if you fail to obtain a permit to burn leaves on your property. You can also get into legal trouble if you recklessly burn leaves and cause a wildfire.
How Harmful Is It To Burn Leaves?
Burning leaves is harmful to the environment because of how much air pollution it produces. Many homeowners mistakenly believe that burning leaves outdoors is safe because the smoke eventually dissipates. However, you are still at risk of lung, eye, and nose irritation that can be dangerous and uncomfortable.
You can also suffer from carbon monoxide poisoning if you inhale too much smoke when you burn leaves. Burning leaves is also known to cause wildfires, and that is devastating to the environment. It’s also risky to burn leaves because you can damage the soil beneath the fire.
This can deplete the soil’s nutrients that are necessary to grow healthy plants. Never burn leaves on a windy day or if your area is experiencing a drought. Otherwise, the risk of causing a wildfire goes up significantly.
How To Safely Burn Leaves
While burning leaves is considered unsafe, you can take several steps to make the process safer. Follow these steps to reduce some of the risks of burning leaves:
1. Plan Around The Weather
Weather plays a huge role in how dangerous it is to burn leaves. You cannot safely burn leaves on dry and windy days. Heavy winds carry hot embers that can quickly burn nearby vegetation and structures, like sheds and houses.
It’s also important to make sure that the humidity level is above 35%. Never burn leaves if the wind speed is faster than 5 miles per hour, or else embers will spread quickly. It’s also a great idea to touch nearby plants and soil to make sure they aren’t too dry before you burn leaves.
2. Prioritize Fire Safety
Before you pick a burn site, it’s important to gather fire safety materials. It’s essential to keep a fire extinguisher nearby if you plan to burn leaves. Many homeowners also take a bucket or two of water with them to keep beside the fire.
Ideally, you should have another person with you while you burn leaves. This makes it much easier to extinguish the fire if it gets out of control. One of you can operate the fire extinguisher while the other douses the flames with water.
3. Select The Burn Site
The location of the burn site has a lot to do with how safe it is to burn leaves. First and foremost, you cannot legally burn leaves anywhere other than where they were generated. For example, you can’t rake leaves on your property, transport them, and burn them elsewhere.
Next, you must move the leaf pile to a safe location on your property. Ideally, you must move the leaf pile 50 feet away from structures and trees that could easily catch on fire. Make sure to remove flammable objects as well, such as gasoline, propane tanks, and grills.
Never burn leaves underneath a tree as the embers can easily travel upward and catch a tree on fire. Other flammable objects to avoid when burning leaves include cushions, outdoor furniture, sheds, and trampolines.
4. Clear The Area
Most people burn leaves during the fall and winter when there is plenty of dry vegetation. Dry vegetation can quickly catch on fire, so you must clear the area before you burn leaves. Cut back and remove dead, dry plants around the burn site.
Next, mark the circumference of the pile of leaves you plan to burn. Once you’ve done that, you must create a water barrier around the pile of leaves. Make the water barrier as wide as possible to ensure it will stop the fire from spreading outward.
Create a pile of leaves that is neither too wide nor too tall. It’s best to burn small piles of leaves at a time, even if that means repeating the process several times. Otherwise, it will be much harder to control the fire, and it can spread. Slowly add leaves to the pile as it burns, and keep the dry, unburnt leaves far from the flames.
5. Put The Fire Out
It takes up to 4 to 6 hours to burn a lot of leaves. The process is time-consuming, but you must monitor it the whole time to mitigate the risk of fire. Once the leaves are gone and only a pile of ashes remains, you must extinguish the fire.
Keep in mind that burning embers often linger beneath the ashes, so you can’t trust the fire to go out without help. You can either use a fire extinguisher or simply pour water onto the pile. Carefully walk around the pile of ashes and evenly cover it with water.
Dump the water out toward the middle if you cannot reach it without stepping into the ashes. Stand nearby and watch the pile for a few minutes to make sure there are no smoldering embers.
Can You Burn Leaves In A Fireplace?
It’s unsafe to burn leaves in a fireplace. Dry leaves burn quickly and hot, so they produce lots of smoke and carbon monoxide. Your home can quickly fill with dangerous levels of carbon monoxide if you burn leaves indoors.
The burning embers can also blow throughout your home and start a fire. That said, you are allowed to burn leaves in your fireplace in some municipalities. However, it must be a closed fire, or else you may face fines.
Summing It Up
It’s only safe to burn leaves outside if the wind speed is below 5 miles per hour and the humidity exceeds 35%. Otherwise, the wind can carry hot embers and set dry vegetation on fire in the surrounding area. Clear the area of dry, dead plants before you burn leaves, and create a water barrier so the fire doesn’t spread.
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Nick Durante is a professional writer with a primary focus on home improvement. When he is not writing about home improvement or taking on projects around the house, he likes to read and create art. He is always looking towards the newest trends in home improvement.
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