Photo credit: AP News
By Lorraine Farina
Hvaqcoalition (at) gmail.com
There is a proposed measure that has been before the Kingston Common Council since May, 2025. It was introduced by members of the Hudson Valley Air Quality Coalition (HVAQ), where I serve as director.
HVAQ is concerned with threats to air quality in the Hudson Valley, including those posed by wildfires. Although wildfire smoke can have serious air-quality impacts, the proposal is focused on a different aspect of the issue: reducing wildfire risk and improving fire safety for the Kingston community, their homes and property.
A proposal will come before the Public Safety Committee this Wednesday, June 24 at 6:30 pm, when language may be suggested for a law.
A brief Background
Following the unprecedented wildfires in Ulster County in November of 2024, several members of HVAQ wrote a letter to Mayor Noble asking why he had not enacted a total, temporary burn ban on all outdoor burning, as almost all other jurisdictions in Ulster County did at the time. We received no response from the Mayor. We sent a follow-up letter and again received no response.
HVAQ brought the concern to the full Kingston Common Council in May, 2025, and has since been advocating at the council’s Laws and Rules Committee meetings (last fall) and Public Safety Committee meetings (this term) for the Council to enact a temporary ban on all outdoor burning whenever the NYSDEC designates Kingston as being at “high fire danger” risk, according to its fire danger map.
The public can review our background history sheet that we presented to the council, as well as my responses to Public Safety Committee members’ concerns at the May meeting.
Kingston faces special risks as a densely populated city with predominantly wood-framed homes (much like the City of Altadena, CA, which tragically burned to the ground—and which also shares two other unnerving similarities with Kingston: it is located in a valley and has a paid, professional fire department).
There is currently no proactive temporary ban on all outdoor burning in place in Kingston in times of high fire danger. The only restriction is a ban on the burning of brush, which is in place year-round. During the Ulster County wildfires in 2024, the surrounding jurisdictions recognized that although the state had banned the burning of brush, other outdoor burning was left unaddressed, and they acted to ban all outdoor burning until further notice.
According to Professor Eli Dueker of Bard College during his presentation to the Laws and Rules Committee in September 2025, worsening climate conditions—dryness, more frequent high winds, lower relative humidity, and dry fuels—make fire danger more likely. A chart constructed using NYSDEC archived data shows the number of “high fire” days from 2013–2025, demonstrating how fire danger has increased over this period. Worsening climate conditions (dryness, more frequent high winds, lower relative humidity, and dry fuels) make fire danger more likely.
Attached is a chart showing the number of “high fire” days from 2013–2025, per DEC information:
Community members of Kingston deserve to be protected by a proactive ban on all outdoor burning when we are designated as being in “high fire danger” status. This is a policy that a city as progressive and climate-aware as Kingston should not hesitate to pass.
If you are concerned for your homes, property, lives, and the environment, I urge you to contact your alderperson and the entire Common Council at commoncouncil@kingston-ny as soon as possible and advocate for the proposed measure below:
When the DEC designates Kingston as being at “high fire danger” risk, per its fire danger map, the city would put into effect a temporary burn ban prohibiting all outdoor burning, including bonfires, campfires, warming fires, outdoor fireplaces, chimneys, and cooking fires within city limits until further notice.
Please also consider attending the Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, June 24 at 6:30 pm in Conference Room 1 of Kingston City Hall. Public comments will not be entertained, but signs are encouraged.