Walla Walla County, WA Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

Section 15.04.520(E) of the Walla Walla County Code covers permanent outdoor fireplaces and barbecues built within the Mill Creek Wildfire Protection Area, the wildland-urban interface boundary the county adopted by Ordinance No. 384 in 2010 from the 2006 Mill Creek Community Wildfire Protection Plan and County Resolution 06-069. The rule applies the same way the rest of the Article X package does: it is triggered when a new structure requiring a building permit is built inside the mapped boundary, not by installing a portable fire pit on an existing lot.

A permanent outdoor fireplace or barbecue must have a screen over its outlet, and no portion of a tree or other vegetation may extend within fifteen feet of the stovepipe, heat-producing vent or chimney outlet, the same fifteen-foot standard that applies to a house's own chimney under part D. On top of that, the code requires a five-foot radius around the fireplace or barbecue itself to be cleared of flammable material, expressly naming bark and mulch as examples the county will not accept as ground cover in that zone.

Outside the Mill Creek Wildfire Protection Area, this section does not apply, and the general International Fire Code adopted at Section 15.04.140 and the residential open-burning rule at Section 15.04.142 govern outdoor burning elsewhere in unincorporated Walla Walla County. The Community Development Department's building official administers the standard through the same permit review used for the rest of Article X.