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

Section 9-2.09 of the Yuba City Municipal Code, adopted by Ordinance 01-98 (effective May 21, 1998) as part of Chapter 2, the park and recreation-area rules, makes it unlawful for any person to make or kindle a fire or hold a barbecue in any park or recreation area except in the stoves or pits provided by the City. The rule doesn't ban recreational fire outright: it channels every open flame, whether a campfire, charcoal grill, or portable barbecue, into the fixed stoves and pits the City has installed at its parks, so a resident who sets up their own fire pit or portable grill elsewhere on park grounds, on the grass at Sam Brannan Park or along a trail, is in violation even if the fire itself is contained.

Enforcement runs through Section 9-2.30: the Director of Public Works or a designee enforces the chapter's operational provisions, while the Yuba City Police Chief is responsible for the penal provisions, meaning an officer can cite someone on the spot for an unauthorized fire. Because Chapter 2 of Title 9 carries no special penalty clause of its own, a violation defaults to the citywide infraction schedule at Section 1-2.02: a fine of not more than $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second violation of the same provision within a year, and $500 for each additional violation within that year, with each day a violation continues counted as a separate offense. This section governs only City-owned parks and recreation areas; it does not reach fire pits or barbecues on private residential property, which instead fall under the International Fire Code as locally amended at Section 4-5.01.