Fire Regulations in Calaveras County, CA (2026)
4 rules for unincorporated Calaveras County, California.
Verified from official government sources
Fire Pits & Backyard Fires
In Calaveras County's mapped hazardous fire areas, a permanent or portable barbecue, outdoor fireplace, incinerator or grill needs no burn permit as long as it sits at least fifteen feet from grass, grain, brush or forest cover. Move closer than that and the fire falls back under the chapter's general open-fire permit requirement.
Calaveras County Fire Pit and Barbecue Setback
Some RestrictionsCalaveras County Code § 8.08.080(B)
No permit will be required for outdoor fires within habited premises, developed recreational areas or designated camp sites where such fires are built in a permanent barbecue, portable barbecue, outdoor fireplace, incinerator or grill and are a minimum of fifteen feet from any grass, grain, brush or forest covered area. Such a permit shall incorporate such terms and conditions which will reason...
Outdoor Burning
Calaveras County requires a written burn permit from the county fire warden, CAL FIRE or the U.S. Forest Service before lighting any outdoor fire in a mapped hazardous fire area. Even with a permit, fires are banned outright whenever the county publicly announces a no-burn day or no adult is present to tend the fire.
Calaveras County Open-Burning Permit and Burn Ban
Significant RestrictionsCalaveras County Code § 8.08.080(A), (C)
No person shall build, ignite or maintain any outdoor fire of any kind or character, or for any purpose whatsoever, in or upon any hazardous fire area, except by the authority of a written permit from the county fire warden, the State Department of Forestry or the U.S. Forest Service. ... Regardless of permit, however, no person shall build, ignite, or maintain any outdoor fire in or upon any h...
Wildfire Zones
Calaveras County has adopted California defensible space law as county ordinance, applying it to anyone who owns, leases, controls, operates or maintains a building in or adjoining mountainous, forest, brush or grass-covered land.
Calaveras County Defensible Space Requirements
Significant RestrictionsCalaveras County Code Section 15.10.010
Calaveras County adopts the Public Resource Code, Chapter 3, Sections 4291—4299, Defensible Space Requirements for any person that owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains a building or structure in, upon, or adjoining any mountainous area, forest-covered lands, brush-covered lands, grass-covered lands, or any land that is covered with flammable material. (Ord. No. 3078, Section 1, 2-14-2...
Smoke Detectors
Calaveras County makes the 2025 California Residential Code, including its smoke alarm mandate, locally enforceable countywide by adopting it wholesale at County Code § 15.04.020.C, alongside listed CRC appendices covering tiny houses, patio covers, strawbale and cob construction.
Calaveras County Smoke Alarm Code Requirement
Some RestrictionsCalaveras County Code § 15.04.020
The following publications are adopted by reference and incorporated in this code, except as expressly amended or superseded by the provisions of this chapter. ... C.California Residential Code, 2025 edition, as published by the International Code Council and as adopted by the California Building Standards Commission in Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, Part 2.5, including the fol...
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