Burn Ban

Kingston Public Hearing August 26: Take Action for a Proactive Burn Ban During High Fire Danger

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By Lorraine Farina and Rebecca Martin
This is a follow-up to Lorraine Farina’s guest post,  “Kingston Needs a Proactive Burn Ban During High Fire Danger” (June 22).


WHAT
The Kingston Common Council is considering a proactive, temporary outdoor burn ban in Kingston during times of high fire danger, as determined by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). The proposed temporary burn ban would prohibit: “All outdoor burning, including bonfires, campfires, warming fires, outdoor fireplaces, chimneys and cooking fires in city limits until further notice.”

By working together during periods of elevated fire risk, Kingston can reduce preventable sources of ignition and help protect our community before an emergency occurs.

WHEN
Public Hearing: August 26 at 6:00 PM

WHERE
Kingston City Hall
420 Broadway
Kingston, NY

HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Attend the public hearing and sign up to speak.

You can also email the Kingston Common Council (please indicate your Ward/alderperson) to share your support for a proactive, temporary burn ban when DEC designates Kingston at “high fire danger” by writing to: co***********@*********ny.gov and em*****@*********ny.gov

Please blind cc HVAQ on your communications:
hv***********@***il.com

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
WARD MAPS

Last November, Ulster County experienced the largest and most numerous wildfires in recent history. In response, surrounding communities took action and put temporary outdoor burn bans in place.

The reality is that the conditions around us are changing. The Kingston Common Council is considering a proactive approach that would allow our community to reduce risk during the most dangerous conditions: a temporary outdoor burn ban during periods of high fire danger as determined by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). This is an opportunity for our community to work together to reduce preventable risks and protect our neighborhoods, residents, first responders, and the environment we all share.

Worsening climate change has increased fire danger risks here in Kingston. Our city has unique characteristics that create additional concerns, similar to the conditions that existed in Altadena, California before the devastating 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. Kingston is a densely populated city with predominantly wood-framed homes, located in a valley that can trap air and wildfire smoke. New research is changing how we understand urban wildfire risk: in urban wildfires, houses become the fuel. Our urban fire departments are prepared for more frequent, smaller-scale fire events, but they are not traditionally equipped to respond to the comparatively rare but potentially devastating large-scale events that climate change is making more likely.

The proposed temporary burn ban would reduce preventable sources of ignition during the periods when fire conditions are most dangerous. It would prohibit: “All outdoor burning, including bonfires, campfires, warming fires, outdoor fireplaces, chimneys and cooking fires in city limits until further notice.”

The proposal would take effect when the DEC designates Kingston as being at “high fire danger” risk — conditions where fine fuels ignite easily and fires spread rapidly, often becoming difficult to control. According to data compiled from the DEC Fire Danger Map, Kingston’s number of “high fire danger” days has increased from 0–1 days in 2013 to 38 days in 2022 and 31 days in 2025, reflecting the growing need for proactive action.

This conversation is not new. The Common Council first considered a burn ban in summer 2025, and the Administrative Code already prohibits brush fires and the creation of dense smoke within city limits year-round (§135-3 Prohibition of emission of dense smoke; exceptions). This proposal builds on those existing protections by addressing additional sources of ignition during periods of high fire danger.

The Kingston Common Council is seeking public input at a public hearing on August 26 at 6:00 PM at Kingston City Hall. Please attend, sign up to speak, and make your voice heard.

If you are planning to speak at the public hearing or submit a comment, consider sharing why you support a proactive, temporary outdoor burn ban during periods of high fire danger. You might talk about what the increasing risk of wildfire means for Kingston, why prevention matters, and why communities should take action before an emergency happens. Your comments do not need to be long. Personal experiences, local knowledge, and your reasons for supporting proactive action are valuable.

GUEST POST: Kingston Needs a Proactive Burn Ban During High Fire Danger

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Photo credit: AP News

By Lorraine Farina
Hv***********@***il.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 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) 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 DEC 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 co***********@*********ny.gov 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.