Overland Park, KS Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

36 of the adopted International Fire Code, as amended by the city, states plainly that an operational permit is required for kindling or maintaining an open fire or a fire on any public street, alley, road, or public or private ground, with an application submitted in writing to the Overland Park Fire Department before the fire is set. That application must disclose the purpose of the burning, the nature and quantity of material to be burned, the time and date, the location, and the name and phone number of the person supervising it.

The section then states a single exception: recreational fires. That means a homeowner lighting a fire pit, chiminea, or similar contained recreational fire in a residential yard does not have to file the Fire Department's written open-burning application that a bonfire or debris burn would require. The exemption is narrow: it covers the permit paperwork for that one section, not every other fire-safety rule in the code. 1, still prohibits open burning, bonfires, recreational fires, or portable outdoor fireplaces outright whenever the National Weather Service or NOAA data shows atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make such fires hazardous, subject only to a prescribed-burning exception approved by the fire code official. 320.