Fire pits and outdoor fireplaces in Ohio

Two different rules apply, and people tend to mix them up.

The first is Ohio EPA's open burning rule, Chapter 3745-19 of the Ohio Administrative Code. It sorts the state into restricted and unrestricted areas. Restricted areas include land inside any city or village, plus a buffer of 1,000 feet around municipalities of 1,000 to 10,000 people and one mile around those over 10,000. Most of our customers in Hudson, Stow, Kent, Green or North Canton live in a restricted area.

Even in a restricted area, the rule allows campfires and outdoor fireplace equipment for cooking, warmth or recreation without notifying Ohio EPA, as long as three conditions are met:

• They burn clean seasoned firewood, natural gas or an equivalent clean-burning fuel.
• They are not used for waste disposal. No leaves, trash, cardboard or scrap lumber.
• The total fuel area is 3 feet or less in diameter and 2 feet or less in height.

That last one is worth knowing when you design a fire pit. A 5 ft wide fire ring is fine as a ring, but the actual fire inside it still has to stay within that 3 by 2 ft limit.

The second rule is the Ohio Fire Code, which covers where and how you burn. Your local fire department enforces it, and that is where the distances come from.

Section 307 of the Ohio Fire Code, in rule 1301:7-7-03, sets these distances:

• Recreational fires shall not be conducted within 25 feet of a structure or combustible material.
• Recreational fires in gas-fired recreational pits shall not be within 15 feet of a structure or combustible materials.
• Portable outdoor fireplaces, the store-bought steel units with screens, follow the maker's instructions and a 15 ft distance, though the code exempts them at one- and two-family homes.

The code also says any of these fires must be constantly attended until it is out, with a fire extinguisher or other means such as a garden hose, sand or a water barrel ready to use. It also lets a local fire official ban recreational fires when conditions call for it.

How your fire department classifies a particular built-in wood fire pit or masonry fireplace is their call. On a smaller suburban lot in Cuyahoga Falls or Fairlawn, 25 feet from the house, the garage and the wood fence can use up most of the backyard. That is one of the biggest reasons people here choose gas. We check with the local fire official when the layout is tight.

Cities and HOAs can go further than the state. Some subdivisions allow only gas fire features, and some cities limit burning hours or require a screen over wood fires. Those rules live in local ordinances and deed restrictions rather than in the state code, so read your HOA documents and ask the city or township before you commit to a wood-burning design. It is a lot cheaper to switch to a gas burner on paper than after the stone is laid.

Wood gives you the crackle, the smell and real heat on a cold October night. It also gives you smoke, sparks, ash to clean out and a pile of seasoned wood to store somewhere dry. Wet or green wood makes thick smoke, which is hard on the neighbors, and an OSU Extension educator in Trumbull County suggests waiting until the wind is blowing away from the neighbors before you burn. In a subdivision with houses 20 feet apart, that smoke is usually what ends the wood-burning era.

Gas, natural gas from the house or a hidden propane tank, lights with a switch, goes out when you are done and puts out almost no smoke. It does not throw embers onto a pool cover or patio cushions. It also puts out less heat than a big wood fire, and the flame looks more controlled. Look for a burner system listed to ANSI Z21.97 / CSA 2.41, the standard for outdoor decorative gas appliances.

Our opinion for most pool yards is gas. Pools, cushions, umbrellas and kids in towels do not mix well with flying sparks, and the shorter code distance makes the layout easier. On a big rural lot in Portage or Trumbull County with room to spare, a wood fire ring well away from everything is a fine choice.

A fire pit is low and round or square, and people sit all the way around it. It is sociable, it is cheaper and it works on a small patio. The downside is that smoke goes wherever the wind sends it, usually into someone's face.

An outdoor fireplace has a firebox and a chimney. The chimney draws smoke up and away, the back wall reflects heat toward the seating, and the mass of stone blocks wind and a view you would rather not see. It is also a much bigger build. A masonry fireplace weighs many tons, so it needs a real footing below the frost line your jurisdiction sets under the Residential Code of Ohio. Set on a thin slab over Northeast Ohio clay, it will crack or lean.

A fireplace works best as the end wall of an outdoor room, facing the seating, often next to a pavilion or kitchen. A fire pit works best in the open, a few steps off the patio with a ring of chairs around it.

Separate it from the water. A fire pit right at the coping means wet feet walking past hot stone, and sparks landing in the pool or on a pool cover. We like a separate patio area a few steps from the pool deck, often downhill or at a different level, so the evening fire becomes its own place.

Check what is overhead. Low tree branches, a pergola with a wood or fabric top and a pavilion roof are all combustible. A gas fire table under a pergola may be allowed by its manufacturer at certain clearances. A wood fire is not something we would put under any roof.

Think about wind. Most of our weather comes from the west. Put the seating on the upwind side where you can, and keep the fire downwind of the house, not upwind of the back door.

Plan the ground under it. Stone, pavers and concrete near a fire pit take heat on top and freeze-thaw from below, so we build fire features on the same compacted base as the rest of the patio and use fire brick or a steel insert inside the fire zone. Drainage matters too. A fire pit that collects rainwater will crack its liner the first time that water freezes.

A fire feature is one of the few parts of an Ohio pool yard that people use in November and even January. That is a good argument for building it, and for building it right.

For wood-burning pits, leave a drain hole or gravel base so water does not sit in the bowl. Cover it for the winter or clear snow out before the first fire, because heating a bowl full of ice-soaked stone is how caps crack. For gas units, follow the maker's instructions on covering the burner and checking it before the first fire each season. Keep rock salt off natural stone caps and decorative concrete around the fire, and use sand instead.

In the snowbelt east of Cleveland, in places like Chardon and Bainbridge, count on snow burying a low fire pit for weeks at a time. A raised fire table or a fireplace with a hearth off the ground is easier to use there.

Fire pits and outdoor fireplaces are part of the outdoor living work we do, alone or together with a pool, patio, kitchen or pergola. On a pool project, the fire feature goes into the 3D design, so you can see distances to the house, fence and water before anything is built, and we run the gas line while the trenches are open.

Our outdoor living projects start from about $15,000. The fire feature's cost depends on wood or gas, fire pit or fireplace, stone choice, footings and how far the gas line runs, and we can talk about financing through the lenders we work with.

Bring the way you picture using it. Toasting marshmallows with kids every Friday calls for a different design than a quiet fire with a glass of wine after the pool is covered for the night.