Living on a large property does not automatically give a resident the right to burn household trash, tree limbs, leaves or brush.
Combine’s burning ordinance connects the city’s rules to burn bans and outdoor-burning restrictions imposed by Kaufman County. The city applies those restrictions throughout Combine, including neighborhoods located in the Dallas County portion of the city.
Residents must also comply with Texas environmental regulations. A fire may violate the law even when no county burn ban is active and even when the person burning believes the flames are safely controlled.
Kaufman County Burn Bans Apply Across Combine
Whenever Kaufman County issues a burn ban, the City of Combine automatically implements and enforces the same ban within its corporate limits.
That includes every part of Combine—not only the properties located in Kaufman County. The city ordinance specifically extends a Kaufman County burn ban into the portion of Combine located in Dallas County.
The city restriction remains in effect for the same length of time as the county ban.
Any exemptions included in the Kaufman County order also apply within Combine. Residents should read the actual burn-ban order instead of assuming that a cooking fire, fire pit, burn barrel or brush pile is exempt.
No Burn Ban Does Not Mean All Burning Is Legal
The absence of a burn ban only removes one possible prohibition. It does not suspend the city ordinance, state air-quality rules, nuisance laws or restrictions on the materials that may be burned.
Combine permits the same outdoor-burning exemptions recognized by Kaufman County. Burning for another purpose requires written permission from the Combine police chief, fire chief or an authorized designee.
That official may establish conditions, restrictions or safety requirements for the proposed burn. Residents should obtain required approval before preparing or igniting the fire—not after smoke has prompted a complaint or emergency response.
Can Residents Burn Household Trash?
Texas generally prohibits outdoor burning but provides a narrow exception for domestic waste generated at certain private residences.
That exception may apply only when the local government does not collect household waste and has not specifically authorized a company or other service to collect it from the property.
The property must be designed and used exclusively as a private residence for no more than three families. The waste must also have been produced and burned on that same property.
When government-provided or government-authorized collection is available, the domestic-waste exception generally does not apply. Residents should not assume they can avoid using a trash service by burning their garbage instead.
A Burn Barrel Does Not Make Illegal Trash Legal
Placing waste inside a metal barrel does not automatically make the fire lawful.
The material must still qualify for an exception under state and local rules. The fire also cannot create a smoke nuisance, threaten neighboring property or present a traffic hazard.
A burn barrel should never be treated as a general disposal container for everything a household no longer wants.
Materials That Must Not Be Burned
State outdoor-burning rules prohibit burning materials that can release dangerous pollutants or create other hazards.
Prohibited materials include tires, rubber products, plastics, electrical insulation, chemical waste, heavy oils, asphalt materials and potentially explosive items.
Residents also may not burn roofing shingles, treated lumber, painted or chemically coated wood, carpet, furniture, appliances, electrical wire or nonwood construction and demolition debris.
This means an old sofa, mattress, pile of shingles, discarded flooring or demolished shed cannot simply be added to a brush fire. The fact that some of the material contains wood does not make the entire pile legal to burn.
Brush, Limbs and Leaves Carry Their Own Rules
Clean plant material is treated differently from ordinary household garbage, but it is not always legal to burn.
Trees, brush, grass, leaves and branch trimmings generally must have grown on the property where they will be burned. Residents cannot collect limbs from several locations, transport them to one property and burn them there under the ordinary on-site plant-waste exception.
Both Dallas and Kaufman counties are included in the Dallas-Fort Worth ozone nonattainment area. State regulations therefore impose stricter conditions than those found in many rural Texas counties.
Within these counties, the plant-waste exception is generally limited to vegetation produced through qualifying activities such as right-of-way or easement maintenance, land clearing or maintenance along water canals when no practical alternative to burning exists.
Routine cleanup of fallen limbs, leaves and ordinary yard debris does not automatically qualify as land clearing. Residents should contact city officials before assuming a brush pile meets an exemption.
Brush Must Come From the Property
Transporting brush to another property for burning can create a separate problem.
State rules generally require qualifying trees, limbs and vegetation to be burned where the material originated. A property owner cannot automatically haul brush from a business, rental property, customer’s yard or another residence to a personal burn pile.
Commercial waste also does not qualify for the domestic-waste exception. Landscapers, contractors and other businesses cannot use a residential burn pile to dispose of material generated through their operations.
Safety Rules Apply to Lawful Burns
Many qualifying outdoor burns must begin no earlier than one hour after sunrise and end no later than one hour before sunset on the same day.
Weather conditions must allow smoke to rise and disperse without creating a hazard. State guidance generally calls for surface winds between 6 and 23 mph for burns subject to the standard outdoor-burning conditions.
A qualifying fire generally must be downwind of—or at least 300 feet from—a neighboring structure containing people, animals or other sensitive receptors. Prior written approval from the neighboring occupant may be necessary when that distance cannot be maintained.
Smoke cannot be allowed to create dangerous conditions on a public road, affect neighboring buildings or become a public nuisance.
A responsible person should remain with the fire while it is active. Water, equipment or another effective method of controlling and extinguishing the fire must be immediately available.
If a fire escapes control, residents should call 911 rather than attempting to conceal the incident or waiting to see whether it spreads.
Cooking Fires Are Not Trash Fires
Texas provides separate exceptions for noncommercial cooking, recreational fires, ceremonies and fires used for warmth during cold weather.
Those exceptions do not allow residents to dispose of household garbage while claiming they are cooking or enjoying a recreational fire.
Only suitable fuel should be placed in a fire pit, barbecue cooker or recreational fire. Plastics, treated wood, rubber, construction debris, chemicals and other prohibited materials remain illegal to burn.
A county burn ban may also restrict recreational or cooking fires. The wording of the active order determines which activities remain permitted.
Smoke Can Still Create a Violation
A fire may meet an exemption and still become unlawful if the smoke creates a nuisance or traffic hazard.
Residents should consider wind direction, nearby homes, livestock, roadways and anyone with respiratory sensitivities before burning.
Continuing to burn while smoke repeatedly crosses a roadway or enters neighboring homes could result in complaints, emergency responses and enforcement action.
Violations Can Cost Up to $2,000
A person commits an offense under Combine’s ordinance by knowingly or intentionally violating the burning chapter or a restriction established through a burn-ban order.
Each occurrence is considered a separate violation. A conviction can result in a fine of as much as $2,000 for each violation.
The Combine police chief has authority to enforce the ordinance while a burn ban is active. State environmental laws and other criminal or civil provisions may also apply when an illegal fire pollutes the air, escapes the property or damages someone else’s land or structures.
Check Before Lighting the Fire
Before burning anything, residents should confirm that no burn ban or dangerous-weather restriction is active, identify exactly what material is in the pile and determine which legal exception allows the fire.
Kaufman County provides burn-status information through its outdoor-burning line at 469-595-8899. Questions about permission required within Combine may be directed to City Hall at 972-476-1532.
Calling first can prevent a resident from facing a fire-department response, neighborhood dispute, citation or costly damage caused by a fire that should never have been started.
Article Tags
Combine Ordinances, Outdoor Burning, Burn Bans, Brush Burning, Trash Burning, Fire Safety, Combine Texas
