Residents of Stephentown wanting to burn brush piles, leaves or the like are required to renew burn permits annually in person. Anyone needing to burn must contact Rik McClave at 733-5170 and appear in person to fill out an application to obtain a free burn permit. The permit is good for 7 days from time of issue but can be reissued for other burns via a phone call during the current calendar year.
Permits will not be issued for construction debris, large stumps or any materials containing plastics or petroleum. At certain times of the year the danger of rapidly spreading fire becomes extremely hazardous to the homeowner as well as to the fire department. For that reason the Fire Chief retains the right to suspend any open burning during these high fire danger periods, and burn permits will not be issued during that time. We are currently in high hazard burn conditions which will prevail until green grass overgrows dead winterkill grass. This condition may last several more weeks.
On the day of the actual burn, the permit holder must contact Rensselaer County Public Safety at 270-5252 prior to lighting the fire and after the fire has been extinguished. This is to ensure that the Fire Department is not needlessly dispatched to a controlled burn. Please remember the Town of Stephentown Local Law 1981-1 has a penalty clause in which violators may be fined up to $100. In 2008 SVFD responded to 265 calls; please help us reduce that number by burning safely. The Department has already responded to several brush and grass fires.
Anyone interested in becoming a member can stop by the station Monday evenings 7 pm or contact any member to request an application and further information about joining.