Gulfport, FL Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

Gulfport regulates backyard fire pits through the definitions built into its open-burning ordinance, section 10-19(a), rather than a stand-alone fire-pit chapter. A "fire ring" is defined as a cleared area on the ground a minimum of 15 feet from any structure, at least 5 feet in diameter outside the burn area, and the definition specifically folds in a chimenea or other elevated fireplace used to contain a recreational fire, so store-bought steel fire pits and chimeneas are held to the same 15-foot clearance as an in-ground ring.

The related "recreational fire" definition caps the flame itself: the fire must sit inside a container, a grill, a portable fireplace, or a designated fire ring, and the total fuel area cannot exceed 3 feet in diameter and 2 feet in height. Subsection (b)'s fuel prohibition then limits what can be burned in that pit or ring: only clean-burning charcoal, coal, manufactured fire logs, or untreated dry wood, with treated wood, yard waste, paper, garbage or other waste material barred outright. A homeowner cannot use a backyard fire ring to dispose of storm debris, wrapping paper, or fence boards; those still have to go out with yard waste collection or through a construction-debris hauler.

Enforcement falls to law enforcement and the fire department, who may enter the property where the burning is occurring, order an out-of-compliance fire extinguished, or extinguish it themselves if it is judged a threat to public health or safety under section 10-19(d).