Dodge County, WI Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

02: Astico, Derge, Harnischfeger, Ledge and Nitschke Mounds Parks and the county's designated trails. Subsection (a) bars starting or maintaining a fire outside of designated stoves, cooking grills, fire rings or pits, so a camper or picnicker may not build a fire on bare ground or bring a portable fire pit into an undesignated spot. Subsection (b) prohibits leaving a fire unattended at any time, and subsection (c) bars starting or maintaining a fire during a posted burning or fire ban, which lets the Land Resources and Parks Department shut down all park fires during dry conditions regardless of whether a fire ring is used.

04(5)(e) bars possessing or bringing in outside firewood unless a park has posted otherwise, a rule aimed at slowing the spread of invasive pests such as emerald ash borer. Because this chapter is scoped to the park system, it does not set a setback distance or permit rule for a fire pit on private residential property elsewhere in unincorporated Dodge County; anyone building a backyard fire pit outside a county park should look to their town's own ordinance or the state's outdoor burning rules, since the exported county code contains no general residential fire-pit provision.