San Benito County, CA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Outdoor burning is governed jointly by MBARD (air quality) and CAL FIRE's San Benito-Monterey Unit (fire safety). MBARD administers burn permits for Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties and applies Rule 438 (Open Outdoor Fires) and Title 17 Smoke Management Guidelines. Residential 'backyard burning' of dry green-waste material is available to occupants of single- or two-family dwellings, but only during a defined season that 'begins December 1st each year and continues through April 30 of the following year,' and only on days MBARD declares burning is allowed. A statewide Trash Burning Ban prohibits burning garbage, plastics, painted or treated wood, and similar materials at any time. Agricultural burning is handled separately: piles cleared from less than 10 acres of agricultural land can be permitted through MBARD's online Agricultural and Land Management Burn Permit, while larger prescribed and ag burns run through the state PFIRS reporting system. Independently, anyone burning outdoors in the State Responsibility Area must obtain a CAL FIRE burn permit (free at burnpermit.fire.ca.gov), which carries hazard-reduction conditions such as keeping a clearance to bare mineral soil around the pile, having water and a shovel on hand, and an adult in attendance. During dry months CAL FIRE BEU suspends all burn permits and open fire in the SRA (suspensions were issued, for example, in May 2024 and May 2025), which halts even otherwise-permitted burning.