Bonita Springs, FL Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

Article III of Chapter 22 in the Bonita Springs Code bans open burning, then carves out exceptions. Sec. 22-43 makes it a violation to ignite, permit or maintain any open fire unless the article specifically allows it, and Sec. 22-45(8) allows recreational fires on private property provided the fire is contained. Every exception in Sec. 22-45 carries a condition: the fire cannot be a nuisance or an unsafe fire.

The code defines a recreational fire narrowly. It is the noncommercial burning of approved fuel for pleasure, religious, ceremonial, cooking, or similar purposes that is not in an incinerator, a grill, or a barbecue pit, and the total fuel area cannot exceed three feet in diameter and two feet in height. Fires in warming-type containers count as recreational fires. That term covers chimneas, fire bowls, fire houses, similar portable devices, and permanently installed outdoor fireplaces fueled by approved fuel. Approved fuel means clean wood, charcoal, commercially available fire starter logs or briquettes, liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas, or butane. Clean wood must be dry natural wood that is not painted, varnished, coated or pressure treated, and that contains no resins or glues as in plywood.

Sec. 22-47 sets the distances: 25 feet from any structure or combustible material, ten feet for warming-type containers unless the fire chief permits otherwise, and 25 feet from the edge of any public roadway for open burning. Sec. 22-44(3) shuts down open burning during a burning ban issued by the fire chief or the Florida Forest Service, with cooking fires as the only carve-out. Officers judge a nuisance by wind, air quality, parcel size, where the fire sits on the parcel and how sensitive neighbors are to smoke, including conditions such as asthma and allergies. Under Sec. 22-44(5), where this article and another law conflict, the more restrictive provision applies.