SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Council voted to ban all wood bonfires on city beaches on Tuesday, unless the fire is in a designated pit.
The newly approved ordinance comes months after it was first proposed by Councilmember Joe LaCava in May.
The policy becomes final in 30 days after a second vote by the city council, and could include some changes.
The proposal was aimed at mitigating environmental, public safety and health risks caused by coals and embers caused by bonfires.
In a statement to CBS 8, Larry Webb, President of the Mission Beach Town Council said, “The proposed changes will make our beaches safer by preventing hospitalizations, and they will help the environment by stopping the spread of charcoal ash debris and improve air quality throughout the city.”
What does the ban mean?
- The ordinance bans bonfires in the sand unless they’re inside designated city fire pits.
- One exception: fires fueled by portable propane fueled devices are still permitted outside the city’s rings.
Back in Sept., CBS 8 spoke to bonfire-for-hire companies about the proposed ban.
A local bonfire-for-hire companies in San Diego said the city should enforce rules already in the books, not write new ones to take things away from families.
Joshua Kennedy is the Beach Fire Guy. That’s the name of his bonfire rental company. There are fewer city designated fire pits in San Diego than a decade ago. The Beach Fire Guy operates with a business license, to fill the void.
“The magic is in the simplicity. We provide the basic stuff. All the equipment. We provide elevated pits. It’s here for three hours and at the end of the night we clean it up. All the embers. We clean it all up,” Kennedy said.
In Sept., CBS 8 interviewed Councilmember Joe LaCava, who proposed the ban. He said it’s really just clarifying a vaguely worded city code.
"We as elected officials want the regulations that are on the books today enforced. And if you want a little bit of clarity, we're amending the code to provide the clarity because there's been some conflict in some of the language,” LaCava said.
WATCH RELATED: Should bonfires on San Diego beaches be banned outside of designated fire rings? (Aug. 2022).