Burlington County, NJ Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

The exception in Rule 29 requires the fire fixture to be county-provided, maintained, or designated, so a portable fire pit or ring a visitor brings and sets up themselves does not qualify, even in an otherwise open area of the park. The rule covers building, lighting, or maintaining a fire generally, meaning campfires, charcoal fires, and any other open flame are treated the same way, separate from the outright fireworks ban in Rule 30 next to it under the same FIRES. FIREWORKS heading. Notably, the designated-fire exception is not absolute: it disappears entirely whenever the county has fire restrictions in effect, for example during dry or high-fire-danger conditions, meaning even a normally allowed fireplace, fire ring, or grill goes out of bounds until the restriction lifts.

The Rules and Regulations do not specify a numeric setback distance for fires; the operative test is simply whether the fixture is one the county has provided, maintained, or designated. Enforcement runs through the document's standard framework: a violator can be ordered to leave under Rule 36, treated as a disorderly person under Rule 37, and prosecuted as a defiant trespasser under Rule 38 for refusing to leave. Because parks close about one-half hour after sunset for the Mount Holly area under Rule 2, a fire built after closing separately violates the park's access hours. The Board of County Commissioners retains discretion under Rule 1 to modify or waive this or any other Parks System rule.