Fire Regulations in Boulder, CO (2026)
7 verified fire regulations for Boulder, Colorado, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Fire Pits & Backyard Fires
Boulder bans mobile and portable outdoor fireplaces, the store-bought steel bowl or basket fire pit, everywhere in the city under Fire Code § 307(2). A recreational fire is only legal in an exterior fireplace built to the City of Boulder Building Code, or as a permitted 'ceremonial fire' contained in a code-defined ceremonial fire pit or chantico, with a charged garden hose on hand and a 15 mph wind cutoff.
Boulder Outdoor Fire Pit Rules
Heavy RestrictionsBRC § 10-8-2(b)(10) & (13); Fire Code Ch. 2 Definitions, § 307(1)(e), (2)
Ceremonial Fire Pit is a three-foot-deep pit that does not exceed ten feet in diameter with a twenty-four-inch horseshoe shaped berm void of vegetation. A five-foot buffer zone surrounds the berm and is clear of vegetation and/or other combustibles. ... No person shall kindle or maintain outside of a habitable building or outside of an exterior fireplace built in accordance with the City of Bou...
Fireworks
Boulder outlaws fireworks outright: Section 5-6-6 bans possessing, manufacturing, storing, selling, or using any firework unless the city fire marshal has issued a permit for a supervised public display. Bystanders on residential property who watch someone light fireworks and do nothing to stop it, or refuse to help identify the shooter, can be charged as a complicitor to the same offense.
Boulder Fireworks Ban
Heavy RestrictionsBoulder Revised Code (B.R.C. 1981) § 5-6-6
(b)The possession, manufacture, storage, sale, handling, and use of fireworks are prohibited. No person shall possess, store to offer for sale, expose for sale, sell at retail, or use or explode any fireworks except after obtaining a permit for the supervised public display of fireworks as prescribed by the city fire code, Chapter 10-8, "Fire Code," B.R.C. 1981.(c)On residential property, each ...
Brush Clearance
Boulder requires new buildings in mapped wildland-urban interface areas to clear fuel out to the distance set in Wildland Code Table 603.2, or to the lot line if that is closer, and to maintain a five-foot noncombustible zone right around the structure. The rule is set at City Code Section 10-8.5-2(dd)-(ee).
Boulder's Wildfire Fuel Modification Rule
Some RestrictionsBoulder Revised Code § 10-8.5-2(dd)-(ee) (Wildland Code §§ 603.2, 603.2.4)
603.2 Fuel modification. New buildings and new structures constructed in compliance with the conforming defensible space category (moderate hazard, high hazard, or extreme hazard) as identified within the wildland urban interface area by the code official shall comply with the applicable fuel modification distance established in Table 603.2 or with fuel modification to the lot line, whichever i...
Outdoor Burning
Boulder bans open burning of trash, brush, and wood citywide. Fire Code § 307(1), reenacted at BRC 10-8-2(b)(13), makes it unlawful to kindle or maintain any bonfire or burn trash, paper, wood, weeds, brush, or other combustible material outside a habitable building or a code-built exterior fireplace anywhere within city limits or on city property beyond them, with only four narrow, clearly defined exceptions.
Boulder Open Burning Prohibition
Heavy RestrictionsBRC § 10-8-2(b)(13); Fire Code § 307(1)(a)-(d)
(1)No person shall kindle or maintain outside of a habitable building or outside of an exterior fireplace built in accordance with the City of Boulder Building Code any bonfire or burn or permit to be burned any trash, paper, rubbish, wastepaper, wood, weeds, brush, plants, or other combustible or flammable material anywhere within the city limits or anywhere on city property outside of the cit...
Wildfire Zones
Boulder maps every parcel into a wildland-urban interface fire hazard class under Wildland Code Section 502.1, and any building constructed, modified, or relocated within that mapped area must meet the ignition-resistant construction standard tied to its class. The Division of Building Safety, assisted by the fire department's Community Risk Reduction unit, sets and enforces the classification.
Boulder Wildland-Urban Interface Zones
Some RestrictionsBoulder Revised Code § 10-8.5-2(t) (Wildland Code § 502.1)
502.1 General. The fire hazard severity of building sites for buildings hereafter constructed, modified or relocated into wildland-urban interface areas shall be established by the code official based on the class of ignition-resistant construction identified for the building site on the wildland-urban interface area mapping or, alternatively, in accordance with Table 502.1. See also Appendix C.
Smoke Detectors
Boulder's Property Maintenance Code requires the owner or agent to check hardwired smoke alarms once a year and test battery-powered alarms annually, with extra installation duties for rental units under Section 704.9.
Boulder Smoke Alarm Inspection Rules
Some RestrictionsBoulder Property Maintenance Code §§ 704.8-704.9 (B.R.C. 1981 Ch. 10-2)
704.8 Smoke Alarm Inspections. Smoke alarm inspections shall be conducted by the property owner or agent as detailed below:1.Smoke alarms that receive their primary power from the building wiring shall be checked for good operating condition once each year and if supplied with battery backup, the battery shall be replaced as necessary for proper function of the smoke alarm.2.Battery-powered smo...
Propane Storage
Boulder requires a construction permit before anyone installs an LP-gas (propane) system in the city, with the fire department's Community Risk Reduction division serving as approving authority under Fire Code section 105.6.16, adopted at Boulder Revised Code section 10-8-2. The city has adopted the 2024 International Fire Code by reference, and permit and appeal procedures run through the building official and the Board of Building Appeals.
Boulder LP-Gas Installation Permit
Some RestrictionsBoulder Revised Code § 10-8-2(b)(5)
(a)The 2024 edition of the International Fire Code of the International Code Council is adopted by reference as the City of Boulder Fire Code and has the same force and effect as though fully set forth in this chapter, except as specifically amended by the provisions of this chapter.(b)The Fire Code adopted by Subsection (a) of this section is amended in the following places: ... (5)Section 105...
Looking for Boulder County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Boulder city rules.
Fire Regulations in Boulder County →