Jackson, NJ Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

Township Code Section 204-5N defines a lawful recreational fire narrowly: it must burn material other than rubbish, and the fuel area itself is limited to three feet or less in diameter and two feet or less in height inside an incinerator, outdoor fireplace, barbecue grill or pit. The purpose has to be pleasure, ceremonial, cooking, warmth, or a similar reason. A fire that exceeds either dimension, or that is not confined to one of those approved containers, falls outside the recreational-fire exemption and is instead treated as open burning under Section 204-5N, which bars open burning unless it is conducted under the New Jersey Uniform Fire Code, Chapter 3, Section 307.

The Fire Official for the resident's fire district (District 2, 3 or 4) is the enforcing authority, and Section 204-14D sets the general penalty for violating any provision of Chapter 204 at up to $2,000 or 90 days in jail, or both, prosecuted through the Penalty Enforcement Law in Municipal Court. Because the definition sits inside the same open-burning subsection, a backyard fire pit that grows past the three-foot/two-foot fuel-area cap loses its exempt status and becomes an unlawful open burn subject to that general penalty.

Residents should also expect the local fire district (2, 3, or 4) to apply its own NJUFC-based inspection practice when a complaint is made about a pit's size or placement.