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

020(b) of the Wausau Municipal Code lets the Fire Chief issue permits for recreational fires at single-family and two-family dwellings, defining a fire pit as either a below-ground pit or a portable device built to contain wood fires, and a recreational fire as a small outdoor fire for recreation or cooking. Every recreational fire must burn inside a fire pit, capped at a three-foot diameter and two feet of flame height above the pit; a below-ground pit must be at least four inches deep and ringed with noncombustible material such as concrete block, rock or metal, and a portable unit must sit on a noncombustible surface.

Only clean, dry wood or untreated, unpainted lumber may fuel the fire; burning anything else lets the Fire Department extinguish it and issue a citation. Placement is restricted to 25 feet from any building, structure, shed, garage or combustible fence, and 10 feet from any lot line, and the fire cannot run when wind speed exceeds seven miles per hour or would carry smoke or embers toward a structure. m. 010(a), and runs until March 31 of the fifth year after issuance. The Fire Chief or Fire Marshal can declare a citywide ban whenever the Wisconsin DNR rates fire danger high, very high or extreme for the Wausau area.