8 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 2 cities in Larimer County, Colorado.
Verified from official government sources
Recreational fire pits, fireplaces and chimineas using clean, dry wood or charcoal are exempt from the county open-burn permit, but only when no fire ban is active. During the county's frequent fire restrictions, wood and charcoal fire pits are prohibited.
Larimer County Ordinance for Open Burning, Sec. 5
Emissions from fireplaces, fire pits, chimineas or other wood burning containers that have been approved and used for non-commercial, recreational or aesthetic purposes using clean, dry, untreated wood or charcoal.
Only non-aerial, non-explosive "permissible" fireworks (fountains, sparklers, ground spinners) are legal in Colorado; anything that leaves the ground or explodes is illegal. Larimer County routinely bans ALL fireworks, even permissible ones, during its frequent summer fire restrictions.
Larimer County's Wildfire Resiliency Code requires defensible space around structures, organized into ignition zones: 0-5 ft (immediate), 5-30 ft (intermediate) and 30-100 ft (expanded). The immediate zone must be cleared of shrubs, slash and combustible debris.
Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code (Larimer Cty.), Sec. 502.1.3
Remove all plantings including shrubs, slash, combustible mulch and other woody debris.
You must obtain an open-burn permit from your fire protection district or the Sheriff's Office (plus an air-quality permit) before burning slash or vegetation on private land. All burning is banned during fire restrictions and Red Flag Warnings.
Larimer County Ordinance for Open Burning, Sec. 6
No person shall conduct Open Burning on privately owned property within the unincorporated area of Larimer County, Colorado, without first having obtained an Open Burn Permit from the legally constituted Fire Protection District in which the property is located or from the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.
Because of its wildfire history (Cameron Peak and High Park fires), Larimer County declares ALL unincorporated land a wildland-urban interface area. New and altered structures countywide must meet wildfire structure-hardening and defensible-space requirements.
Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code (Larimer Cty.), Sec. 302.1
Because of the history of and potential for large, destructive wildland fires, all of unincorporated Larimer County is deemed a wildland-urban interface area.
Larimer County has no separate smoke-detector ordinance; smoke alarms are required through the building codes the county adopts (the International Residential and Building Codes), which mandate alarms in bedrooms, outside sleeping areas and on every level of a home.
Small recreational fires in approved containers are allowed in the unincorporated county when no fire ban is active, using only clean, dry wood or charcoal. During the county's routine summer fire restrictions, all open recreational fires are prohibited.
Larimer County Ordinance for Open Burning, Sec. 8
Open Burn fires must be extinguished by sundown, except for cooking, recreation, and bon fires.
Larimer County sets no unique propane-storage ordinance; residential LP-gas tanks are governed by the adopted International Fire Code and NFPA 58, which set tank size, placement and distance-to-structure and property-line rules enforced by the building division and fire districts.
2 cities in Larimer County have their own fire regulations rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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