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

Section 2-50 of the Sand Beach Ordinance makes it unlawful to create or kindle a fire on the Gulfport sand beach without first obtaining a permit as to time, place and location from the Gulfport Central Fire Station. The applicant must be at least eighteen years old and must agree to take full responsibility for controlling the fire and cleaning up all resulting debris and litter, which must go in the nearest waste canister rather than being buried in the sand. The permit must be carried to the Harrison County sheriff's office at least twenty-four hours before the fire is lit and must be kept at the beach the entire time the fire burns; the fire station is also asked to notify the sheriff's office when it issues a permit.

No permit may issue unless the fire sits at least one hundred feet south of the seawall and at least one hundred feet from any pier or other structure, is built only of wood piled no higher than three feet and no wider than six feet in diameter, and is constantly attended by a competent person until fully extinguished. Before issuing a permit, the public safety official must also weigh wind direction and intensity, recent rainfall, nearby combustible structures or vegetation even beyond the one-hundred-foot radius, and the water pressure and hydrant access available to the nearest fire department.