Pitt County, NC Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

Section 17 of the Pitt County Fire Prevention Ordinance carves out a permit-free path for residential yard-debris burning that sits alongside the general grass-and-woods-fire permit rule in the same section. Burning leaves, tree branches, or yard trimmings that originated on the premises of a private residence is allowed only when five conditions are all met. First, the burning must happen where no public pickup service for yard waste is available. Second, the fire cannot create a nuisance. Third, a competent person must constantly attend the fire until it is extinguished, and that person must keep a garden hose connected to a water supply, or other extinguishing equipment, ready for use.

Fourth, the location rule sets the actual setback: the fire cannot sit closer than 50 feet to any structure, and it cannot sit farther than 100 feet from an occupied private residence, with adequate provision made to keep the fire from spreading within 50 feet of any structure. Fifth, a fire contained in an approved waste burner has a shorter setback: it cannot be located less than 15 feet from any structure. These conditions function as the county's practical fire-pit rule for homeowners, since the ordinance defines no separate recreational-fire category; a backyard debris fire or an approved burn barrel is regulated as open burning under this same section. The Emergency Services Office administers the underlying permit system and can cite a resident whose yard fire misses any of the five conditions.