Kankakee County, IL Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)
Fire pit rules in Kankakee County, IL, also called outdoor burning, recreational fire, or open flame ordinances, cover fuel types, clearances, and when burning is allowed.
Key Facts
- Recreational fire status
- Exempt from open-burning ban
- Condition
- No air pollution, no garbage burned
- Local rules
- Fire district restrictions still apply
- Distinct from
- Landscape/waste burning (50-ft setback, curfew)
Summary
Open burning is banned across unincorporated Kankakee County except for specific listed activities, and a legitimate campfire, recreational fire, or cooking fire is one of them, as long as it does not create air pollution under state law and no garbage is burned. Local fire district rules can still apply on top of this exemption.
(a)Prohibited.(1)No person shall cause or allow open burning in the county except as provided in subsection (b) of this section. ... (b)Exemptions. The following activities are not in violation of this chapter unless they cause air pollution as defined by the Illinois Environmental Protection Act (415 ILCS 5/1 et seq.). Nothing in this chapter shall exempt such activities from applicable local restrictions: ... (5)The burning of fuels for legitimate campfire, recreational, and cooking purposes, or in domestic fireplaces, in areas where such burning is consistent with other laws, provided, that no garbage shall be burned in such cases.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 46-27(a) makes it unlawful to cause or allow open burning anywhere in the county except as spelled out in the exemptions of subsection (b), and separately bars burning refuse in any chamber or apparatus not designed for that class of refuse. Subsection (b) lists the exempt activities, all conditioned on not causing air pollution as defined by the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, and it expressly states that nothing in the exemption list overrides other applicable local restrictions, such as a township or fire protection district's own burning rules.
Item (5) of that list covers the burning of fuels for legitimate campfire, recreational, and cooking purposes, or in domestic fireplaces, so long as the burning is consistent with other laws and no garbage is burned in the fire. ; those numeric setbacks and hours apply to the waste-burning exemptions in items (1) through (3), not to the general campfire and recreational-fire exemption in item (5), which imposes no specific distance or time limit of its own beyond the air-pollution and no-garbage conditions.
Violations & Fines
Open burning that does not fit one of Sec. 46-27(b)'s exemptions, or a supposed campfire that creates air pollution under the Illinois Environmental Protection Act or is used to burn garbage, is unlawful open burning under Sec. 46-27(a); chapter 46's general violation and injunction provisions apply to enforcement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I have a campfire or fire pit in unincorporated Kankakee County?
Does the campfire exemption set a distance from my house?
Can a fire district still restrict my recreational fire?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Kankakee County
How Kankakee County compares: Cities with the Strictest Fire Pit Rules·Compare Kankakee County to another location·View the Illinois fire regulations overview
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