Burn permits and fire pits in Needham, Massachusetts

Brush burning season and permit

Needham's Fire Department allows open burning only from January 15 to May 1 ^[1]. Permits cost $10 and are sold at the Needham Fire Department, 88 Chestnut Street, payable by cash or check only; the department can prohibit burning on certain days because of weather ^[2]. After you have a permit, you must call the Fire Department at 781-444-0142 each burn day to ask about air quality and get permission ^[6].

Where and when

The town's page says burning must be more than 25 ft from any dwelling and between 10am and 4pm ^[3]. Note that Massachusetts' open-burning regulation requires at least 75 ft from any dwelling, which is stricter than the 25-ft figure on the town page; plan on the state distance. You must stay at the fire with a charged hose at all times, and you can burn only on days when air quality is good enough for smoke to disperse.

What you can and can't burn

With a permit you may burn brush, cane, driftwood and forestry debris (not from commercial or industrial land clearing), agricultural materials such as fruit tree and brush clippings, trees and brush from agricultural land clearing, and fungus-infected elm wood if there's no other way to dispose of it ^[4]. Burning grass, hay, leaves, stumps, tires, and construction material and debris is prohibited ^[5].

Fire pits and recreational fires

We didn't find any Needham bylaw or Fire Department page covering backyard fire pits, chimineas or recreational fires. Under state rules, cooking fires are allowed year-round, while a fire pit used for anything other than cooking falls under the open-burning rules. Ask the Fire Department before using a fire pit.