The St. John’s Regional Fire Department is cautioning residents about burning brush and yard debris on private property.

Now that the weather has started to improve, many residents are heading outside to clean up their properties. To do this, many choose to burn the unwanted debris they find.

Firefighters say this is okay, but you need to obtain a permit and meet certain requirements.

Some of the rules include having the fire 15 meters from all combustible materials, having proper equipment on hand to extinguish the fire, and that there is no fire when winds are above 20 km/h.

A full list of rules can be found here:

• The fire shall be minimum of 15 meters from all brush, debris or combustible materials.

• The Permittee shall have at the location of the fire at least 1 person and adequate firefighting equipment and water supply for SJRFD to extinguish the fire if it becomes necessary.

• The fire shall not exceed 1.5 square meters.

• No more than one fire shall be burning at a time.

• The fire shall not be left unattended until it is extinguished completely, and the fire is to be extinguished before dark.

• No open air fires are permitted during periods of high or extreme Fire Weather Index or in winds over 20km/h.

• The permit does not allow for the burning of heavy oils, items containing natural or synthetic rubber, animal carcasses or animal wastes, asphaltic products, waste petroleum, paints plastic aerosol cans, electrical wiring, treated wood products or any other material other than plant growth, paper products or untreated wood construction wastes.