Fire Regulations in Des Plaines, IL (2026)
7 verified fire regulations for Des Plaines, Illinois, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Fire Pit Rules
Des Plaines City Code 5-2-5 bans open burning of garbage, refuse, and yard waste but carves out an exception for noncommercial cooking and for UL-listed, approved outdoor wood-burning fireplaces or fire pits. State rule 35 Ill. Adm. Code 237.120 separately permits small recreational fires as long as no garbage is burned.
Fire pits allowed only if UL-listed; no waste
Some RestrictionsDes Plaines City Code 5-2-5 (Burning Trash, Leaves, Combustible Matter)
Section 5-2-5 prohibits burning garbage, refuse, or yard waste in the city, excepting the noncommercial cooking of food and the use of UL-listed and approved outdoor wood-burning fireplaces or fire pits.
Fireworks
Consumer and display fireworks are illegal to possess, sell, or discharge in Des Plaines under the Illinois Pyrotechnic Use Act (425 ILCS 35). Only state-exempted novelties such as sparklers, snakes, and smoke devices may be used; aerial and explosive consumer fireworks are banned without a state display permit.
Consumer fireworks illegal statewide; only novelties
Heavy Restrictions425 ILCS 35/2 (Illinois Pyrotechnic Use Act)
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, co-partnership, or corporation to knowingly possess, offer for sale, expose for sale, sell at retail, or use or explode any display fireworks, flame effects, or consumer fireworks.
Brush Clearance
Des Plaines does not have a wildfire-driven brush clearance ordinance like western states. Property owners must keep vegetation maintained under the City's weeds and nuisance code (Title 4), with grass and weeds limited to 8 inches and dead trees and brush abated as a public nuisance. Riverfront properties have additional buffer rules.
Des Plaines Brush Clearance & Vegetation Maintenance
Few RestrictionsOutdoor Burning
Open burning of garbage, refuse, and landscape waste is prohibited in Des Plaines. The city sits in Cook County, where Illinois rule 35 Ill. Adm. Code 237.120 removes the landscape-waste burning exemption (counties over 400,000 population, within 40 air miles of Chicago), and City Code 5-2-5 separately bans burning trash, leaves, and combustible matter.
Open burning of waste banned (Cook County)
Heavy Restrictions35 Ill. Adm. Code 237.120(c)
The open burning of landscape waste, but only: ... In those areas of the State which are not in the following prohibited areas: A) Municipalities having a population in excess of 2,500 according to the latest federal census. ... C) All municipalities wholly within 40 air miles (64.5 kilometers) of Meigs Field, Chicago, Illinois.
Wildfire Zones
Des Plaines is not located in any wildfire hazard zone. As a fully developed Chicago suburb in Cook County, the City has no wildland-urban interface designation, no state-mapped fire hazard severity zones, and no defensible-space requirements. Standard structural fire prevention applies.
Des Plaines Wildfire Zones
Few RestrictionsSmoke Detectors
Des Plaines enforces the Illinois Smoke Detector Act (425 ILCS 60/), as amended in 2023, which requires 10-year sealed-battery smoke alarms in all single-family and multi-family dwellings. Alarms must be installed inside each sleeping area, outside each sleeping area, and on every floor including the basement.
Des Plaines Smoke Detector Requirements
Heavy RestrictionsBackyard Fires
Backyard recreational fires are permitted in Des Plaines so long as no garbage or yard waste is burned and any device is UL-listed. State rule 35 Ill. Adm. Code 237.120 exempts campfire, recreational, and cooking fires 'provided that no garbage shall be burned,' and City Code 5-2-5 allows noncommercial cooking and approved fire pits.
Recreational fires OK; no garbage burning
Some Restrictions35 Ill. Adm. Code 237.120 (recreational fire exemption)
The burning of fuels for legitimate campfire, recreational and cooking purposes, or in domestic fireplaces, in areas where such burning is consistent with other laws, provided that no garbage shall be burned in such cases.
Looking for Cook County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Des Plaines city rules.
Fire Regulations in Cook County →