Georgetown County, SC Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

Georgetown County Code § 10-46(2) exempts recreational and personal-warmth fires, small campfires, outdoor fireplaces, heaters, grills, stoves, fire pits, chimineas and woodstoves from the article's open-burning permit and notification requirements, so long as the fire is properly contained, continuously monitored, kept safe, and does not create a nuisance. Section 10-50 defines a covered campfire/cooking fire as a small outdoor fire using only clean wood, intended for recreation, cooking or ceremonial purposes, and confined by a control device or structure such as a barrel, fire ring or fire pit, excluding any fire meant to dispose of waste wood or refuse.

Clean wood under § 10-51 means natural wood that has not been painted, varnished, pressure-treated or glued, and excludes green or freshly cut wood that would smoke excessively. Even though a fire pit is exempt from the permit and Forestry Commission call-in required for open burns, § 10-42's general 50-foot setback from any structure still governs recreational fires, dropping to 25 feet only for piles 3 feet or less in diameter and 2 feet or less high. The county administrator, or the fire chief of Georgetown County Fire and EMS, Midway Fire Rescue or Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District, can order a fire pit extinguished if it becomes hazardous or is burning during a red-flag alert (§ 10-45), and the person who lit it remains liable for suppression costs and any resulting damage or injury (§ 10-47).