Half Moon Bay OKs two-week trial of enclosed fire pits on Poplar Beach with safety conditions

The Half Moon Bay City Council on Jan. 21 approved a pilot program to place up to four enclosed fire pits on Poplar Beach during a two-week window between Jan. 22 and March 31, 2025, contingent on safety conditions including mesh covers and lids to reduce ember release and an on-site monitoring plan.

Council members voted unanimously to allow the trial after extended public comment and debate about fire risk and public use of the beach. Vice Mayor Redick, who supported the pilot, called the pits “a way to contain the fire” and said they could be a safer alternative to the uncontrolled bonfires that regularly occur on the coast.

The pilot was proposed by Eagle Scout candidate Chloe Standes, who told council that the project has Coastal Commission concurrence for the pilot and is intended to reduce hazards, limit hot-coal incidents and give teenagers a supervised place to gather by a contained fire. “Currently, we have illegal bonfires happening on city beaches, including Poplar Beach, and nothing that we’ve done so far has stopped them,” Standes said during the public forum. She said she and volunteers will collect data during the trial and report back with recommendations for any permanent program.

Safety measures added during the council debate include a requirement that each pit be fitted with mesh and a lid that can be placed over the pit at the close of use to smother embers. Eric DeBode of Abundant Grace’s co-side clean team recommended a chained lid design that would allow crews or volunteers to suffocate fires at night; he said his cleanup crews regularly find hot embers and half-burned wood left after illegal fires.

City staff told council the pilot is being treated as a city program and therefore falls under the city’s insurance and indemnification. Staff also said the pilot did not require a full coastal development permit; however, any permanent installation would. The fire district was consulted and emphasized its general concern about open flames, but staff said the district is not an approval authority for this pilot and that the city is choosing to proceed with conditions meant to reduce risk.

Council discussion displayed a split in approach before the final vote: Council Member Penrose said recent out-of-control fires in Southern California made her unwilling to approve any new open-flame pilot at this time, while Vice Mayor Redick and others supported a tightly controlled trial with lids, mesh, weather gating and volunteer monitoring. The council’s final motion required mesh and lids and directed staff to coordinate monitoring and insurance details.

The pilot permits the temporary placement of up to four fire pits during selected two-week windows between Jan. 22 and March 31, 2025, subject to weather and air-quality restrictions and city coordination. The council adopted the action by roll call; the motion carried (5-0).

City staff said they will work with the sponsor on the monitoring plan and with the insurer on longer-term liability questions if the council later considers a permanent program. The sponsor and volunteers will be responsible for on-site monitoring during scheduled pilot nights, and the city will confirm patrol/closure procedures for the Poplar Beach parking area during the pilot.

Ending: Council members said the pilot is meant to test whether contained pits reduce litter, reduce wildfire risk from abandoned or over-large fires, and provide a safer option than existing illegal bonfires. The sponsor pledged to return with data and recommendations after the trial window.