McHenry County, IL Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

The McHenry County Department of Health's Open Burning Ordinance, Section 8.04.090, and its definitions in Section 8.04.060, set the rules a backyard fire has to meet. A 'Recreational Fire' is defined as a temporary outdoor fire for warmth, cooking for human consumption, or for non-ceremonial purposes where the fire is not larger than three feet by three feet by three feet, and it excludes leaves, grass or shrubbery clippings or cuttings. Anything bigger, or any fire held as part of a scheduled public or private event, is instead a 'Ceremonial Fire (bonfire)' and is regulated differently.

Because a recreational fire falls within that 3-by-3-by-3 size limit, Section 8.04.090(B)(1)(c) exempts it from the prohibitions, weekend-and-daylight burn windows, and wind-speed restriction that otherwise govern open burning of landscape waste in the county, meaning a recreational fire is not confined to weekends between dawn and dusk in October, November, April and May the way a brush pile burn is. The one condition that still applies: Section 8.04.090(B)(4)(e) requires any ceremonial fire or recreational fire to be supervised by an individual at least 18 years of age or older until it is out. The county's adopted International Fire Code amendment, Section 307.1, layers on a second requirement: recreational fires must also comply with the fire prevention district having jurisdiction, so a local fire protection district can impose its own additional conditions, such as requiring the pit be a set distance from a property line or structure.