Fire Regulations in Houston County, GA (2026)

2 rules for unincorporated Houston County, Georgia.

Verified from official government sources

Note: These county rules apply to unincorporated areas of Houston County. If you live within an incorporated city, that city's own rules apply: see the city list below.

Fire Pits & Backyard Fires

Houston County treats small recreational fires and cooking fires as exempt from the state's open-burning restrictions instead of banning them outright. Under section 32-23(1), warming fires for outside work and fires for cooking food or recreation are listed among burns the Environmental Protection Division does not prohibit. The code sets no separate distance requirement for a backyard fire pit itself.

Houston County Recreational Fire Exemption

Light Restrictions

Houston County, GA Code of Ordinances § 32-23(1)(d)-(f)

d.Small fires are allowed to keep warm for outside working. Burning manmade materials or treated wood that could cause dense smoke is prohibited.e.Operating devices using open flame such as tar kettles, blow torches, welding torches, and other flame-making equipment is allowed.f.Burning for the cooking of food for immediate consumption and recreational activities is allowed.

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Outdoor Burning

Houston County bans open burning outright from May 1 through September 30 each year, with narrow carve-outs for farming, prescribed forestry burns, firefighter training, recreational and cooking fires, and certain flame-making equipment. Outside that window, the state forestry commission still requires a permit for nearly all outdoor burning, and county rules add a 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. burn window plus escalating fines for illegal fires.

Houston County Seasonal Open-Burning Ban

Significant Restrictions

Houston County, GA Code of Ordinances § 32-23(3)

(3)No person shall cause, suffer, allow or permit open burning from May 1st to September 30th of each year except as follows: Carrying out recognized agricultural procedures necessary for production or harvesting of crops, the "prescribed burning" of any forest land by the owner's or the owner's designee, for recreational purposes or cooking food for immediate human consumption, fires set for p...

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

All Houston County ordinances

See every category we cover for Houston County: parking, noise, fences, fires, animals, pools, and more.

Houston County Ordinance Hub →