Westminster, CA Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

6, Outdoor Fireplaces, Fire Pits, Fire Rings, or similar devices used at Group R Occupancies, requiring that such devices comply with the section, while exempting barbeques, grills and other portable devices used solely for cooking. 1 governs gas-fueled devices: outdoor fireplaces, fire pits and similar units fueled by natural gas or liquefied-petroleum gas are allowed once the Building Department approves the device and it is designed to burn only a gas flame, not wood or other solid fuel. At R-3 (single-family and duplex) occupancies, combustible construction must stay at least three feet from the atmospheric column rising from the device; at other Group R occupancies the minimum distance is ten feet, though a Building Department-approved hood and vent lets combustible construction encroach between the hood's bottom and the vent opening, and any chimney or vent must carry a spark arrester.

2 covers wood or solid-fuel devices: they must be built to California Building Code standards with a contained firebox, an attached chimney and a spark-arresting opening, and burning wood or solid fuel is barred within 25 feet of combustible structures unless the fire is inside a permanent or portable fireplace, subject to exceptions that shrink the clearance to 3 feet at R-3 occupancies and 15 feet at other R occupancies when the device carries its own spark-arresting screen. 1 additionally bars wood and solid-fuel burning inside a fuel modification zone, Wildfire Risk Area or WUI area.