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

Sec. 4: cooking fires, residential portable outdoor fireplaces, and recreational fires. Cooking fires are allowed citywide and throughout the Fire Response District without a permit, but charcoal burners and other open-flame cooking devices can't be operated on a combustible balcony of any apartment building that lacks a fire-suppression sprinkler system, and can't be operated within 10 feet of combustible construction, a limit that applies to balconies and patios at any multi-family dwelling. Residential portable outdoor fireplaces are permitted at single-family, two-family, and townhouse homes, and plain recreational fires, the classic backyard fire pit, are allowed throughout the City and the Fire Response District with no permit at all.

All three fire types still have to satisfy Sec. 4 to require any open burning location sit no less than 50 feet from a structure, with provisions made to keep the fire from spreading within that 50-foot buffer. The fire code official retains authority under Sec. 200 to order any of these fires extinguished immediately if they create a hazard or adversely affect public health, permit or no permit.