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

Yorba Linda Municipal Code Section 15.08.050 adds California Fire Code Section 307.6, covering outdoor fireplaces, fire pits, fire rings and similar devices at Group R occupancies, exempting barbeques, grills and other devices used solely for cooking. Section 307.6.1 allows gas-fueled devices when approved by the Building Department and designed to burn only a gas flame, requiring three feet of clearance from combustible construction and vegetation at R-3 (single-family) occupancies and ten feet at other R occupancies, with chimneys or vents required to have a spark arrester.

Section 307.6.2 requires permanent wood-burning fireplaces to be built to the California Building Code with a contained firebox, attached chimney and spark-arresting opening, bans burning wood within 25 feet of combustible structures outside an approved permanent fireplace, and flatly prohibits newly constructed outdoor wood-fueled fireplaces, fire pits, fire rings or similar devices under South Coast Air Quality Management District Rule 445. Limited exceptions preserve existing permitted wood-burning fireplaces and fire pits equipped with spark arresters at least three feet from combustible construction at single-family homes, and portable wood-burning fire pits with spark arresters kept at least fifteen feet from combustible structures.

Section 307.6.2.1 bars wood burning in a fuel modification zone or Wildfire Risk/Wildland-Urban Interface area unless the device is an existing permitted unit outside a fuel modification zone or the fire code official finds the location or design reasonably prevents a wildfire start.