Amersfoort first large Dutch city to fine people for using wood-burning fireplaces

From Tuesday, Amersfoort residents are only allowed to light their wood-burning fireplaces if the weather conditions allow smoke to dissipate quickly. Those who break the rules can be fined. Amersfoort is the first large Dutch city to take this measure.

At a first offense, the involved resident will get a warning and an explanation for why the measure is in place. Subsequent offenses will result in fines of between 400 and 800 euros. The municipality set up a “stookwijzer” to show when locals can light their fireplaces.

Amersfoort wants to protect residents from inhaling the harmful substances in wood smoke. “The smoke from a wood fire contains a lot of particulate matter and other harmful substances. These not only pollute the air outside, but also the air in the house. This is harmful to your neighbors, but also to yourself and to your housemates,” the municipality said.

Locals will not be allowed to light their wood-burning fireplaces if the stookwijzer is on code orange or code red - when there is a high chance of smoke remaining in the air due to humid weather or little wind, for example. They can do so on code yellow, as long as they are sensible about it, the city said.

The city will only respond to reports of wood-fire burning if it receives a report. If a wood-burning fireplace is lit under code red or code orange conditions, but the neighbors have made mutual agreements about this, the municipality will not enforce it. “Wood burning has a large number of disadvantages. Our tip: don’t buy a wood stove to heat your house.”

“In an increasingly densely populated city like Amersfoort, it is important that people take each other into account,” Amersfoort alderman Johnas van Lammeren (Environment, PvdD) told NOS. Residents with lung conditions like COPD and asthma suffer a lot if their neighbors light their wood stoves in poor conditions.

The fines are mainly intended to help locals who cannot reach an agreement among themselves, Van Lammeren said.