Sauk County, WI Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

There is no standalone fire pit ordinance in the Sauk County Code; the fire pit rule instead comes from how Chapter 8's shoreland protection ordinance defines a structure. Section 8.004 states that a structure means a principal structure or any accessory structure including a garage, shed, boathouse, sidewalk, stairway, walkway, patio, deck, retaining wall, porch, or fire pit, and lists a fire pit again under the definition of structure, accessory, alongside swimming pools, hot tubs, and gazebos. Because a fire pit is a structure, it falls under Section 8.011(2)'s general shoreland setback: a fire pit built anywhere within the shoreland jurisdiction, defined in Section 8.005 as within 1,000 feet of the ordinary high water mark of a lake, pond, or flowage, or within 300 feet of a river or stream, must sit at least 75 feet back from that ordinary high water mark unless it qualifies for one of the narrow exemptions in Section 8.011(3), none of which list fire pits among the boathouses, open-sided gazebo structures, satellite dishes, and utility lines that do qualify.

A fire pit that counts as an accessory structure outside the shoreland setback zone can still need a land use permit under Section 7.153, unless it falls under that section's 120-square-foot accessory structure exemption. Outside the mapped shoreland area, unincorporated Sauk County's code does not set a separate fire pit setback.