Fire Pits on Ocean Beach

There is only one beach in San Francisco where bonfires are allowed. In response to beachgoers’ concerns that beach fires were leaving unsafe debris on the beach, as well as concerns about smoke blowing into neighborhood homes, Golden Gate National Parks initiated a public process to consider the future of fires on Ocean Beach.

Instead of banning fires, Golden Gate National Park joined several organizations in a creative partnership to install artistic fire rings on portions of the beach away from neighborhood homes. Those organizations, Surfrider Foundation, Burners Without Borders, Ocean Beach Foundation, and Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, are working with Golden Gate National Park to allow fires to continue.

Burners Without Borders has begun donating artistic fire rings so that fires can be physically contained. Surfrider, Ocean Beach Foundation and Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy are organizing beach cleanups to keep Ocean Beach clean and safe for both humans and wildlife.

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Burners Without Borders (BWB) coalesced from a spontaneous, collective instinct to meet gaping needs where traditional societal systems were clearly failing post Hurricane Katrina. Since that time, BWB has emerged as a community led, grassroots group that encourages innovative, civic participation that creates positive change locally.

Following the 2005 Burning Man event, several participants headed south into the Hurricane Katrina disaster area to help people rebuild their devastated communities. As the volunteer numbers grew, they focused their initial efforts on rebuilding a destroyed Vietnamese temple in Biloxi, Mississippi. After several months, that job done, they moved to another needy Mississippi community, Pearlington, to continue to work hard — gifting their time — to help those in need. Over the course of eight months, BWB volunteers gifted over $1 million dollars worth of reconstruction and debris removal to the residents of Mississippi.  The important thing is to create collaborations and bring as much creativity and fun to the project as possible.