GOSHEN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Ohio’s seasonal ban on daytime open burning takes effect Thursday, barring residents across the township and the rest of the state from burning yard waste, brush or trash between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. through the end of November.
Goshen Township Fire & EMS reminded residents of the restriction in a social media post, noting that the state imposes the same burn ban every spring and fall. The rule is set in Ohio Revised Code 1503.18, which prohibits open burning in unincorporated areas statewide during March, April, May, October and November between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
During those hours, no one may burn wood, brush, leaves, weeds, grass or rubbish of any kind, the department said. Fire officials said the fall ban exists because dry, fallen leaves and dead vegetation accumulate heavily by October, raising the risk that an open fire could spread. The daytime hours were chosen because winds tend to blow harder during the day and die down in the late afternoon and evening, lowering the chance that wind-blown embers ignite a secondary fire.
Some materials may never be legally burned in Ohio, at any time of year, under the same state law: food waste, dead animals, and anything containing rubber, grease, asphalt or other petroleum products are prohibited everywhere in the state. Burning is also barred within village and city limits, within 1,000 feet of a neighbor’s occupied building, during any air pollution alert, or in any way that lets smoke obscure visibility on a road, railway or airfield. Residents also may not burn waste hauled in from another property.
Outside the restricted hours and the fall and spring ban windows, Ohio law still generally allows residents in unincorporated areas to burn yard waste in a proper container, though local township rules can be more restrictive.
Goshen Township Fire & EMS operates two stations, including its headquarters on state Route 28, and responds to fire, rescue and emergency medical calls across the township in addition to running fire-prevention and community safety programs. Edward Myers has served as the department’s fire chief since January 2022, after joining as deputy chief in 2018 following 20 years with the Wilmington Fire Department.
The ban remains in effect through Nov. 30.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Goshen Township Fire & EMS.