Dearborn County, IN Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

Dearborn County Code Chapter 96 is titled Fire Prevention and holds a single section, § 96.01 Burning Ban. That section is the only place the code speaks to campfires and recreational fires, and it works as an emergency tool rather than a standing rule. The President of the Board of Commissioners can declare, pursuant to I.C. 10-14-3-29, that a state of emergency exists necessitating a burn ban in Dearborn County. Once the declaration is issued, § 96.01(B) lists the activities that can be prohibited, and the first item is campfires and any other form of recreational fire.

The prohibition carries one built-in allowance. A campfire or other recreational fire is not prohibited if it is enclosed in a fire ring measuring at least 23 inches in diameter and ten inches or more in height. A backyard fire pit, a chiminea-style ring or a campfire ring that meets those two measurements stays legal during the ban, and one that falls short of either measurement does not. The code prints no distance from a house, property line or fence, no permit and no fee for a fire pit, so the ring dimensions are the whole county standard.

The declaration does not last forever. It stays in full force and effect until the next meeting of the Board of Commissioners of Dearborn County, where the Board either rejects or ratifies it. If the Board rejects it, the burn ban expires immediately. If the Board confirms it, the ban continues in full force until the Board declares the end of the emergency that led to the declaration. Under § 96.01(G), Dearborn County residents are directed to comply with emergency management measures and to obey the lawful directions of properly identified officers while the emergency lasts.

Charcoal and propane cooking grills are treated separately under § 96.01(B)(2), not as recreational fires.