Tustin, CA Fire Regulations: Fire Pit Rules (2026)

Fire protection and fire-code enforcement in Tustin are handled by the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA), which administers the California Fire Code. There is no separate Tustin city fire-pit ordinance; the controlling standards come from the state code OCFA enforces. Under the 2022 California Fire Code, recreational fires (the category covering most backyard fire pits and chimineas burning wood or charcoal) must not be conducted within 25 feet of a structure or combustible material (Section 307.4.2). A portable outdoor fireplace, a manufactured, self-contained unit, must not be operated within 15 feet of a structure or combustible material, although that 15-foot rule does not apply at one- and two-family dwellings (Section 307.4.3). Any open burning, recreational fire, or portable outdoor fireplace must be constantly attended until the fire is completely extinguished, and the code requires fire-extinguishing equipment to be available for immediate use, such as a minimum 4-A rated portable fire extinguisher, dirt, sand, a water barrel, or a garden hose (Section 307.5). Air-quality rules also apply: the South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD) can declare mandatory no-burn days that prohibit residential wood burning, so a clean-burning gas fire pit is the safer choice on poor-air days. Because much of eastern and foothill Tustin sits in elevated fire hazard zones, residents there should take extra care with any open flame.