Not Boston, but my neighbors in Quincy liked a good barrel fire. It was like their version of a fire pit. Nice house, yard, gazebo, and an oil drum they used for fires. One day they had one rip-roaring with like, 10ft flames. It was wild. The fire dept showed up, engine and chief. They politely approached and said, "yeah you can't do that here." The neighbors started to put it out and the brigade left before the fire was even extinguished.

All that to say: I don't know, but I'm pretty sure you could get away with it.