5 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Kanawha County, West Virginia.
Verified from official government sources
Backyard fire pits are legal across Kanawha County with no county permit, but during West Virginia's spring and fall forest-fire seasons even a small warming or cooking fire must sit inside a 10-foot cleared ring and stay attended.
W. Va. Code Β§20-3-5
Small fires set for the purpose of food preparation, or providing light or warmth around which all grass, brush, stubble, or other debris has been removed for a distance of 10 feet from the fire
Consumer fireworks are legal statewide for adults 18 and older under West Virginia's 2016 Fireworks Safety Act, but the City of Charleston limits discharge to a handful of holidays and fines violators $500.
W. Va. Code Β§29-3E-11
A person may not intentionally ignite, discharge or use consumer fireworks on public or private property without the express permission of the owner to do so.
Kanawha County sets no defensible-space mandate, but if you burn cleared brush you must follow West Virginia's forest-fire-season rules β a 10-foot safety strip around the fire and the 5 p.m.β7 a.m. burning limit.
W. Va. Code Β§20-3-5
A person shall remove all flammable material from the area immediately surrounding the material to be burned for a distance which ensures the fire will at all times be contained; this safety strip shall in no event be less than 10 feet wide.
Outdoor burning is legal in Kanawha County, but West Virginia's forest-fire seasons confine it to 5 p.m.β7 a.m. each spring and fall, and burning household trash is banned statewide under WV DEP air rules.
W. Va. Code Β§20-3-5
March 1 through May 31, and October 1 through December 31 are designated as forest fire seasons. During any fire season, a person may set on fire or cause to be set on fire any forest land, or any grass, grain, stubble, slash, debris, or other inflammable materials only between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m., at which time the fire must be extinguished.
West Virginia maps no regulatory wildfire hazard zones, and Kanawha County imposes no defensible-space or fire-hardening building mandates. Wildfire risk is managed through the Division of Forestry's fire-season burning rules and drought burn bans, not zoning overlays.
1 cities in Kanawha County have their own fire regulations rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
See every category we cover for Kanawha County β parking, noise, fences, fires, animals, pools, and more.
Kanawha County Ordinance Hub β