Fort Collins, CO Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

3, titled Portable and Fixed Outdoor Fireplaces, to require that these appliances, including fire tables, be used in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Where the manufacturer sets no distance, or none is available, the fire pit or outdoor fireplace shall not be operated within 15 feet of a combustible structure or combustible material, and it may never be run underneath a combustible structure of any kind. The base rule also requires the fireplace to burn gas or liquid fuel unless the Fire Code Official approves something else, and any unit offered for public use, such as at a business or event, must be listed for commercial use.

The Code carves out one residential exception: outdoor fireplaces at one- and two-family dwellings may burn approved solid fuels such as seasoned wood, rather than being limited to gas or liquid fuel. 2, which flatly prohibits recreational fires (open, unenclosed fires on the ground) anywhere in the City except at campgrounds, parks, or similar public lands where a fuel pile under two feet high stays at least twenty-five feet from a structure or combustible material. 2 and § 9-23.