The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

Published March 25, 2026

New rules in place for construction burns

SUNRISE BEACH – Due to the growth of the area and the potential for a construction site burning to spread to a residential area, new rules have been put in place that addresses land clearing and burning.

On Monday March 16 at the Regular Meeting of the Sunrise Beach Fire Protection District Board of Directors, the Board approved the 2026 Code Ordinance.

The ordinance must be updated and adopted at a minimum of every two building code cycles (every six years).

The new ordinance brings the District into the 2024 International Code Council’s International Building Code Editions as well as updated editions of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standards and National Electrical Code (NEC).

Additionally, this ordinance includes tougher requirements and fees for open burning of construction and land clearing sites.

“As the population in our District has increased, so has the potential for fire spread from a construction site into a populated area,” a district spokesman said. “For many years in the region, contractors had started large tree piles on fire and left them unattended, in some cases for days. Firefighters are then called to these locations to manage or extinguish these fires taking lifesaving equipment out of service for hours in some instances, taxing manpower and equipment.”

Starting that Monday March 16, under the new ordinance, there will be a Land Clearing Burn Permit program at www.sbfpd.org

Construction and Land Clearing burns must be in compliance with the District’s requirements and the Code of State Regulations on open burning.

The ordinance reads as follows:

“Open burning for land clearing purposes and other associated construction burns shall be done in accordance with Missouri’s Code of Regulations 10 CSR 10-6.045 Open Burning Requirements. This includes air curtain requirements for any burn within 200 yards of an occupied structure.

“Any contractor planning a construction burn shall notify the District via the District’s construction permit process, provide 24-hour contact information and follow all requirements for open burning. Construction burns shall be subject to the same daily no burn policies as listed above. A Construction Burn Permit must be obtained for each day of burning. 

“All construction burns shall be monitored and tended to by the party igniting the fire or a designee for the duration of the burn. Any construction burn left unattended or not properly extinguished shall be subject to fines assessed as follows each time the District responds to the location of the burn:
1st offense – warning
2nd offense - $500
3rd offense - $1,000

“An additional $500 will be assessed for each subsequent response in a 30-day period. Should the District be required take action to extinguish the fire, additional hourly rates will be assessed in accordance with the FEMA fee schedule which will include hourly apparatus costs, fuel costs, hourly rates of employees and hourly rates of equipment.
“Should the party responsible for the burn refuse to pay, the District reserves the right to place a lien on the property until the fees have been paid.”

The district stated that the ordinance is not intended to stop people from open burning but is to ensure the burns are performed safely and with respect to residents and neighbors living in the area of a construction site.

This ordinance is also intended to help reduce the district’s staff and equipment being tied up to construction fires and remain available for legitimate emergencies.

The new ordinance does not affect recreational burns such as bonfires or private residence utility burns, such as burning leaves. The district’s current rules remain in place for these types of burns.

The District’s website now features two options for burn permits:

• Yard Waste and Recreational Burn Permits – These are for residential yard waste and recreational bon fires, such as in a burn pit.
• Land Clearing Burn Permits – These are for construction and land clearing burns that all contractors and builders should be using.

More information and to obtain a burn permit can be found on the district’s website at www.sbfpd.org

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