Amarillo, TX Fire Regulations: Brush Clearance (2026)

Section 10-2-55 adopts the Rural/Urban Interface Hazard Mitigation Program specifically to reduce hazardous fuel loads in the rural/urban interface through authorized burns of land deemed a public hazard based on the height and amount of weeds, recognizing the wildfire risk that interface poses to the City's urban areas. Section 10-2-56 spells out how that plays out inside the corporate city limits. An advisory group made up of the City's Emergency Management Coordinator, the Building Official, and the Fire Marshal identifies hazard levels and recommends targeted properties, but final approval for any authorized burn rests with the Amarillo Fire Chief alone.

Landowners get notice by mail or personal contact when possible, are told in writing that their property has been deemed a public hazard, and the City tries to secure a release of liability and written permission before burning. Preparation has to remove harmful debris, cut disproportionate fuel loads, and create fire breaks, and the ordinance bars burning electrical insulation, treated lumber, plastics, non-wood construction or demolition material, heavy oils, asphaltic material, potentially explosive material, chemical waste, or anything containing natural or synthetic rubber. 215 of the Texas Administrative Code.

Once underway, burns can't start more than an hour before sunrise, can't run when predicted wind speed sits below 6 mph or above 23 mph, and must be fully extinguished no later than an hour before sunset. Section 10-2-57 extends the identical program into Amarillo's extraterritorial jurisdiction, adding the Randall or Potter County Fire Chief to the advisory group and joint final-approval authority alongside the Amarillo Fire Chief.