Tuscaloosa, AL Fire Regulations: Brush Clearance (2026)

Unlike many cities, Tuscaloosa has formally adopted a wildland-urban interface code. Under Tuscaloosa Code Section 11-29 (Ord. No. 9159, January 2022), the city adopted by reference the 2021 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC) as the 'Tuscaloosa Wildland-Urban Interface Code,' applying within the corporate limits and police jurisdiction. The IWUIC's defensible-space provisions (Sections 603 and 604) are designed to modify the fuel load around structures in interface areas - through thinning, maintenance, and removal of natural vegetation - to slow the spread of fire and provide safe firefighting access. Separately, overgrown or weed-covered lots are addressed through the city's general nuisance and property-maintenance provisions; Tuscaloosa also enforces the adopted 2021 International Property Maintenance Code. The practical catch for residents clearing brush is disposal. Cleared limbs, brush, and vegetation cannot just be set on fire: under Section 11-28, open burning requires a city permit, and permitted vegetation burns must be at least 500 feet from occupied dwellings, use only untreated wood and vegetation, and burn only between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Most residential lots cannot meet that 500-foot setback, so cleared brush should be hauled away, chipped, or set out for collection rather than burned. Keep dead vegetation and combustible debris cleared from around structures as good fire-safety practice.