8 rules for unincorporated Hawaii County, Hawaii.
Verified from official government sources
Small recreational cooking or warming fires are generally allowed, but the Hawai'i State Fire Code (NFPA 1, adopted island-wide) lets the fire department prohibit open flames when conditions are hazardous, and open-flame gas devices like tiki torches must clear combustibles.
Hawai'i State Fire Code (NFPA 1, HI amendments)
Open flame devices utilizing gas or liquid fuel, such as but not limited to tiki torches, shall keep a minimum of three feet clearance from the flame to combustibles, and shall maintain a vertical height of seven feet from grade to flame.
Hawai'i is restrictive: consumer fireworks (firecrackers) are legal only with a $25 County Fire Department permit and only during narrow New Year's, Chinese New Year, and July 4 windows. Aerial fireworks and sky lanterns are banned for the public.
HRS 132D-4
Consumer fireworks may be set off... within the State only: (1) From 9:00 p.m. on New Year's Eve to 1:00 a.m. on New Year's Day; from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Chinese New Year's Day; and from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on the Fourth of July.
Hawai'i County has no single statewide defensible-space setback like California, but leeward and Kona wildfire risk is severe. Fire officials and DLNR urge clearing invasive grasses and creating defensible space around homes; several island communities are Firewise-certified.
Open burning is generally prohibited statewide under Hawai'i Department of Health air rules (HAR 11-60.1). Narrow exceptions cover cooking, fire training, and legitimate agricultural burning with a state permit. Backyard trash and green-waste burning is not allowed.
HAR 11-60.1-55(a)
no person, with or without an agricultural burning permit, shall cause or allow agricultural burning or conditionally allowed open burning from subsection 11-60.1-52(e) when a 'no-burn' period has been declared by the director.
The Big Island faces two distinctive hazards: wildfire on the dry leeward and Kona-Kohala side, and volcanic Lava Flow Hazard Zones mapped by USGS. Both drive insurance, building, and defensible-space concerns even though there is no California-style fire-zone clearance ordinance.
Hawai'i County enforces the Hawai'i State Fire Code (NFPA 1) and building code, which require working smoke alarms in dwellings. Rentals and short-term vacation units must have functioning detectors; requirements follow the adopted state fire and residential codes.
Small recreational cooking and warming fires are generally allowed, but burning trash or yard waste is prohibited under state open-burning rules. The Hawai'i Fire Department may ban all open fires during dry, windy, high-wildfire-risk conditions.
HAR 11-60.1 Subchapter 3
Generally open burning is prohibited with a few exceptions such as cooking, fire training, and agricultural burning with a valid permit.
Propane (LPG) storage on the Big Island follows the Hawai'i State Fire Code (NFPA 1, which incorporates NFPA 58). Small home barbecue cylinders are allowed, but larger container quantities and installations may require fire-department permits and clearance from buildings.
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