Bonfires
 

Is anyone aware of an alleged blanket ban on bonfires anywhere on private property in France (specifically the Limousin)?

I know that during certain summer months there has always been an embargo, but a year-round, total, permanent ban?

Re: Bonfires
 

I will be interested to know. We have a new Maire, and he has certainly told me that I must telephone Bordeaux to discover whether bonfires are permitted on any day. He also said the default answer will be no.

Since the beginning of September a dozen odd neighbours have had bonfires - but they are French and I am not!

Re: Bonfires
 

The sapeur pompiers calender we "buy" each year gives exact dates of when you can and can't light fires. I'm pretty sure the quarterly bulletin from the marie does the same. Not that some of the locals take much notice!!! well they do when it is really hot and dry/

Re: Bonfires
 

No mention of any dates in our Pompiers Calendar!
Prévention contre les incendies de forêt dans les Pyrénées-orientales - Emploi du feu
states prohibition from 1st June to 30th September, so your neighbours risk sanctions!
Normally the local dates are posted in the Mairie. In the Languedoc, I believe this period is longer and burning is prohibited at all times if the Tramontane is blowing.
P.S. I've just realised this link concerns the 66, but still think that the 34 has longer prohibition times....

Re: Bonfires
 

There is a blanket ban on burning garden rubbish, unless you are in a rural area where there is no provision for its collection, and if there is no déchetterie in the area. If this is the case, you may burn garden rubbish between the hours of 11 o'clock and three thirty from December to February, and between the hours of 10 o'clock to four thirty the rest of the year. People are of course urged to compost as much as they can, and not to bother the neighbours with their bonfires.

Re: Bonfires
 

I suspected as much - there have always been limitations, which are usually posted locally on notice boards, and I wasn't aware of any general change in the law forbidding burning all the year round.

You couldn't get much more rural than where I am, and folk are always burning garden rubbish.

I think that my informant is more of a mis-informant. Thanks for the replies.

Re: Bonfires
 

I am right out in the sticks, dept 22. Letter from my Mr le Maire 18 months ago states the ban is nationwide and is 24/7/365. For me, this is a right pain in the @rse, I even have to take the rose prunings to the local déchèterie:thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown:
Fine for non compliance 150€:thumbdown:
I expect the next move is no wood burning fires for heating.

Re: Bonfires
 

If you have a déchetterie, then your mayor is right, the ban is total, and the fine can reach €450.
Peut-on faire brûler ses déchets verts dans son jardin ? - Service-public.fr

Exceptions
Dans les zones rurales ou péri-urbaines où aucun système de collecte n'est prévu et qui sont dépourvues de déchetterie, un particulier peut faire brûler ses déchets verts dans son jardin :
entre 11h et 15h30 de décembre à février,
de 10h à 16h30 le reste de l'année,
et dans tous les cas sur des végétaux secs.

Of course out in France's last colonial outposts, it's a more favourable regime...
Attention : pour les départements de Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane, Mayotte et La Réunion, le brûlage est autorisé entre 9h et 17h30.
En pratique, un arrêté préfectoral disponible en mairie précise les conditions de ce brûlage.
But why not leave your rose prunings to dry out and then stick them on the fire or in the stove?

Re: Bonfires
 

For us (73), it is "as long as you don't do it when it's windy, and not over the weekend or evenings. However, we are on the edge of our hamlet and there is a guy down the road (in the next hamlet) who has bonfires like there is no tomorrow, and he has them when it is blowing right over his neighbours, and when people are sat outside eating! It seems our neighbour says no they are not allowed, but the mayor says yes, but as long as you don't abuse it! We have bought a trailer now as we don't want to have too many bonfires, and it has helped no end as we have massed of pruning each year.