Lake County, CA Fire Regulations: Backyard Fires (2026)

Backyard fires in unincorporated Lake County fall under two overlapping regimes. First, open burning of vegetation or waste is regulated by the Lake County Air Quality Management District (LCAQMD), which prohibits all open green-waste burning during the annual ban from May 1 to November 1. Outside the ban, open burning requires an LCAQMD permit, must occur only on declared burn days, and is restricted to clean, dry vegetation grown on the property—on parcels of at least one acre, with the fire kept 100 feet from neighbors and 30 feet from structures. Second, small recreational and cooking fires are governed by the California Fire Code, which Lake County adopts through its Building Regulations. Under Section 307.4.2, recreational fires must stay at least 25 feet from any structure or combustible material, and a recreational fire is limited to a 3-foot-diameter, 2-foot-high fuel area. Section 307.5 requires constant attendance and ready fire-extinguishing equipment. All burning—including recreational fires—is suspended on no-burn days and during critical fire conditions declared by CAL FIRE, the Governor, the Board of Supervisors, or a Fire Chief. Given Lake County's very-high fire hazard designation, residents should verify burn-day status before any backyard fire.