New Berlin, WI Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

Section 124-12 L(1) starts from a blanket ban: no person may burn, cause to be burned, or permit to burn any fire outside of a building in New Berlin, with both the person igniting the fire and the landowner equally responsible for compliance. Subsection L(4) then carves out specific exemptions from that ban. Cooking fires, barbecue pits, grills and outdoor fireplaces are exempt, but only when used for food preparation, not general burning. Fires inside a structure, including fireplaces and incinerators, are exempt outright. And bonfires or campfires held solely for the aesthetic and social enjoyment of the people conducting them are exempt too, but only if they also comply with subsection L(2)'s (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (h) requirements, the same conditions that govern permitted brush and leaf burning: no barrels or containers, a pile no larger than four feet by four feet by three feet high, kept at least 50 feet from any structure, wood pile or wooden fence, using only dry fuel without flammable liquids, extinguished by a half hour after sunset, and physically supervised the entire time by someone at least 16 years old with fire-extinguishing equipment within 20 feet. The Mayor or Fire Chief can suspend all burning, including these exempt fires, when atmospheric conditions warrant it.