Garden Grove, CA Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

6 to the local Fire Code, covering outdoor fireplaces, fire pits, fire rings, or similar devices at Group R residential occupancies, while exempting barbecues, grills, and other portable devices used solely for cooking. 1 allows gas-fueled devices, burning natural gas or liquefied-petroleum gas only, once the Building Department approves the installation; at R-3 single-family occupancies, combustible construction and vegetation must stay at least three feet from the device's vertical atmospheric column, rising to a 10-foot minimum at other residential occupancy types, and any chimney or vent needs a spark arrester.

2 covers wood-burning and other solid-fuel devices: permanent outdoor fireplaces must be built to Building Code clearance standards with an attached chimney and spark-arresting opening, and burning wood within 25 feet of a combustible structure is barred unless it happens inside an approved permanent fireplace. Portable fireplaces and fire pits equipped with a spark arrester get a reduced setback, 3 feet at R-3 occupancies and 15 feet at other residential occupancies. 1 bars burning wood or solid fuel inside a fuel modification zone, Wildfire Risk Area, or Wildland-Urban Interface Area altogether, except for permanent fireplaces outside those zones or where the fire code official finds the device's design would reasonably prevent a wildfire start.