Burning Regulations in Montgomery County Prohibit Residential and Commercial Refuse Burning

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- With the July 4th Holiday Weekend well underway, Montgomery County Fire Officials are urging residents to use caution and avoid discharging consumer fireworks in areas that did not benefit from the recent rainfall. While some parts of the County east of I-45 saw rainfall this week, most of the rest of Montgomery County ranges from being classified as either “unusually dry” or in “moderate drought”.

Current state law prohibits the burning of household rubbish or trash in Montgomery County subdivisions or on any property less than 5 acres. Businesses may not burn anything at any time on their property and land clearing debris may not be burned unless the burning is contained in a pit and follows all state air quality laws and utilizes a state licensed air blower to limit the smoke produced.

On Saturday, July 2nd, Montgomery County Firefighters responded to 6 grass and woods fires, all of which were quickly controlled. The majority of these fires appeared to have been started by someone carelessly discharging consumer fireworks. While the careless discharging of fireworks is certainly a concern, current state law does not allow Counties to prohibit the sale or use of fireworks unless there is a declared disaster situation.