Newark, OH Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

Newark has no separate fire pit section. The rule for backyard fire features is the campfire exception in the open burning ordinance, § 660.08(c)(2)B, which names bonfires, campfires and outdoor fireplace equipment, whether for cooking food for human consumption, pleasure, religious, ceremonial, warmth, recreational, or similar purposes. The code never uses the term fire pit, so the campfire and outdoor fireplace equipment wording is what a resident has to work from.

Three conditions apply. The fire must be fueled with clean seasoned firewood, natural gas or equivalent, or any clean burning fuel with emissions equivalent to or lower than seasoned firewood. It cannot be used for waste disposal purposes. And it must have a total fuel area of three feet or less in diameter and two feet or less in height. Subsection (c)(2)F adds that these fires shall be of minimum size sufficient for their intended purpose.

Setback. Section 660.08 prints no distance from houses, fences, or property lines for a recreational fire. The only separation figure in the section is 1,000 feet from any inhabited building not located on the premises, and it applies to agricultural waste fires under (c)(3)C, not to a campfire.

A larger fire follows a different track. Under (c)(3)B, a bonfire or campfire used for ceremonial purposes that does not meet (c)(2)B can have a total fuel area no greater than five feet in diameter by five feet in height and burn no longer than three hours, with clean fuel and no waste disposal. It requires written notification to the Ohio EPA at least ten working days before the fire, stating the purpose, the nature and quantities of materials, the dates, and the location.

The rules apply in the restricted area, which is the City plus a one-mile zone beyond its boundary.