Mayor Provides Fire Ring Update at Community Meeting

The fate of Newport Beach's fire rings was brought up over the weekend at the Meet the Mayor event in Newport Coast.

At Saturday's event Mayor Keith Curry told a handful of residents it's still uncertain when, or if, the city will remove the 27 fire rings at Big Corona Beach and the 33 fire rings near the Balboa Pier, according to a report in the Daily Pilot. Curry said the city will likely wait on taking any action until the South Coast Air Quality Management District analyzes proposed alternatives to the wood-burning fire rings.

"Once the AQMD's [request for proposals] for that alternative fuels is ready, then I think we're ready to bring it back to the council," Curry told the newspaper.

The AQMD originally proposed a ban on all beachside fire rings in Orange and Los Angeles counties, following the Newport Beach City Council's vote to get rids of its 60 fire rings citing potential health and safety risks to the community.

Earlier this month the AQMD approved amendments to its Rule 444 in relation to the beachside fire rings. The new changes, which go into effect in March, will have the potential to result in the removal of some of Newport's fire rings.

Newport Beach requested permission from the California Coastal Commission to get rids of its fire rings, but the application was later withdrawn and Newport officials said they would look into non-wood burning fire ring alternatives.

Read the full story on the Daily Pilot.

Click here for today's top stories on Newport Beach-Corona Del Mar Patch.