Merced County, CA Fire Regulations: Fire Pit Rules (2026)

Outdoor open fires in unincorporated Merced County are governed by the county's adopted fire code. Section 9.24.010 adopts the 2022 California Fire Code (with the 2021 International Fire Code Chapter 1 Division 2 and Appendix D). Section 9.24.160 makes it unlawful to build, light, or maintain an outdoor fire, or to burn brush, grass, or trash, without a permit from the county fire chief-but it expressly exempts heating, cooking, and lighting appliances used within buildings, at 'dooryard premises' (the immediate area around a dwelling), and at established campsites. In practice this means a backyard recreational fire pit at a home falls within the dooryard exemption and does not require a burn permit, though it remains subject to fire-code safety rules and to air-district restrictions on what may be burned. Section 9.24.200 requires that any outdoor fire be attended by an adult and thoroughly extinguished-by covering with dirt, saturating with water, or other effective means-before the person leaves. Because most of the county sits on the San Joaquin Valley floor, residential outdoor burning of waste is also limited by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District; only clean, dry, untreated firewood should be burned, and never household trash or vegetation as a disposal method.