Ocala, FL Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

Sec. 54-5 treats open burning broadly: beyond the general permit requirement, subsection (1) bars burning garbage or industrial, commercial, hospital, clinic or laboratory waste except in an incinerator the fire chief has approved for meeting state emission-control standards, and no such incinerator can sit closer than 15 feet to a structure. Subsection (2) prohibits creating unreasonable smoke, odor or nuisance through any burning of municipal solid waste, and subsection (3) bars kindling or maintaining a fire on any public street, road, alley or waterway except by a fire department member acting on the fire chief's authority.

The narrow fuel exemption in subsection (4) covers only dry, untreated wood used as fuel in a fireplace or stove built for burning wood; everything else, including a typical backyard fire pit or bonfire, needs the burn permit described in subsection (b). Subsection (5) lets the fire chief authorize, in writing, burning grass, stubble, leaves, trees, branches, tree trimmings, clippings, weeds, vines, bushes or other natural, untreated ground cover, as long as it won't create a fire hazard or nuisance. A violation carries a flat $150 fine under subsection (c), separate from the Code's general $500 penalty ceiling, and the city's code enforcement board or special magistrate enforces the section using the procedures set out in Florida Statutes chapter 162, as subsection (d) specifies.