Bishop, CA Fire Regulations: Backyard Fires (2026)

Unincorporated Inyo County is in the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District. GBUAPCD Rule 406 prohibits open outdoor burning of refuse but exempts recreational and ceremonial fires contained in a fireplace, barbecue, or fire pit, and fires used only for cooking food for human beings or recreation. These backyard fires do not require a 'burn day' declaration or a burn permit the way vegetation-disposal fires do, but the fuel must be free of household, municipal, and industrial waste such as tires, tar, plastics, and wet wood. Given the dry Owens Valley desert and Eastern Sierra terrain, the local fire agency and CAL FIRE (San Bernardino-Inyo-Mono Unit, which covers the State Responsibility Area) can declare seasonal restrictions that limit or prohibit open recreational fires during periods of high fire danger and red-flag wind events. Best practice and the California Fire Code call for recreational fires to be a safe distance from structures and combustible vegetation, limited in size, attended by a responsible person, and with a means of extinguishment (water, shovel) immediately available. On adjacent Forest Service and BLM land, a separate California Campfire Permit is required and is often suspended during fire restrictions.