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

There are two distinct kinds of 'backyard fire' in Trinity County, and they follow different rules. Debris burning - burning piles of dried, natural vegetation grown on your property - requires a North Coast Unified AQMD standard burn permit and, because the whole county is State Responsibility Area, a CAL FIRE burn permit during fire season. Debris burning is permitted only on declared permissive burn days; call 1-866-BURNDAY (866-287-6329) to confirm, and burn only during the allowed hours (6 a.m. to noon under the standard permit) with a maximum 4-foot pile and a 10-foot clearance to bare mineral soil. Recreational fires - small campfire-style fires for warmth or cooking - are exempt from the NCUAQMD burn-permit requirement, but a CAL FIRE campfire permit is generally required for any open flame on SRA land outside a developed campground. Burning garbage or household trash is always illegal. During the summer and fall fire season, CAL FIRE commonly suspends all permit burning, and the U.S. Forest Service may impose campfire restrictions on adjacent national forest land. Given the county's extreme wildfire history - it was within the 2020 August Complex, the largest wildfire in California history - residents should keep water and tools on hand, never leave a backyard fire unattended, and verify both the burn-day status and any active fire restrictions before lighting anything.