Ames, IA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Ames Municipal Code Sec. 8.401 imposes a general prohibition: the burning of garbage, refuse, leaves, landscape waste and all other combustible materials is banned except as specifically permitted by the fire chief through four listed exceptions. Landscape waste from clearing, grubbing and construction can be burned on site only with advance written approval, and gasoline cannot be used to ignite it. Open burning of prairies, pastures, fields, yards and road ditches likewise needs advance written approval. Training fires for firefighting instruction are allowed with the fire chief's advance approval, and burning a structure as part of training additionally requires written approval from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Storm-damaged trees, limbs and brush may be burned immediately after a severe storm only with advance approval from the fire chief, the public works director and the City Manager acting together as part of a declared public emergency, and the burn site cannot be in a residential area. Beyond the exceptions, Sec. 8.401(2) lets the fire chief prohibit any or all open burning when atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make it hazardous, requires an adult to constantly attend every open fire with a connected hose or other extinguishing equipment on hand, and lets the fire chief's designee investigate complaints about smoke or odor and order a fire extinguished.

Sec. 8.501 excludes open burning from the Building Board of Appeals' general fire code jurisdiction, keeping enforcement discretion with the fire chief. Violations are municipal infractions under Sec. 8.601.