Sugar Land, TX Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

2 of the International Fire Code, 2024 edition, to require a permit from the fire code official before kindling any bonfire, recreational fire, or controlled burning allowed by TCEQ, alongside silvicultural, range wildlife management, or disease and pest control burns. 5 of the amended Fire Code, meaning a resident cannot simply set up a fire pit or backyard bonfire without first clearing it with the Fire Marshal's office. This sits within Article IX (Fire Prevention) of Chapter 7, Sec. 7-58, Code Amendments, adopted under Ordinance No.

2395 on January 20, 2026, which readopted the 2024 IFC edition for the city. Because the ordinance folds recreational fires into the same permit framework as controlled agricultural and wildlife-management burns, homeowners planning a fire pit, chiminea, or open bonfire in a backyard need to confirm with the Fire Marshal whether their setup requires a permit before striking a match, rather than assuming small recreational fires are automatically exempt. 6), so the city treats permitted recreational fire and prohibited trash burning as two separate, clearly divided categories rather than leaving fire pits to informal custom.