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

Tuolumne County is almost entirely a State Responsibility Area protected by CAL FIRE / Tuolumne County Fire, so fire pit and recreational fire rules combine air-district and fire-agency requirements. The Tuolumne County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) Rule 203 exempts 'open outdoor fires used for recreational purposes or for cooking of food for human consumption' from the District's visible-emission limits, and the District separately exempts residential and recreational open burning from APCD burn permits (referencing Rule 310.2). That air-district exemption does NOT exempt residents from permits required by other agencies under the Public Resources Code. In practice, an open wood fire pit used outside a manufactured cooking device is treated like outdoor burning during fire season: CAL FIRE issues free residential burn permits and can suspend them when conditions are dangerous, and during peak fire season campfires/warming fires on private land typically require a CAL FIRE campfire permit and may be restricted. Manufactured propane or gas fire pits that produce no debris smoke are generally treated more like cooking devices. Best practice mirrors CAL FIRE burn-pile rules: keep the fire small, clear at least 10 feet of bare ground around it, keep a shovel and water on hand, never leave it unattended, and fully extinguish it. Check the APCD burn line (209-533-5598) for permissive burn days and CAL FIRE for any active suspension before lighting any open fire.