Stafford County, VA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Section 12-52, Prohibitions on open burning, opens with a blanket rule: no owner or other person may cause or permit open burning or use a special incineration device except as this article specifically allows, and open burning of garbage, refuse, trash, rubbish and other solid or liquid waste from residential, agricultural, commercial, industrial, institutional, trade or construction sources is prohibited at all times. The section separately bars burning rubber tires, asphaltic materials, crankcase oil or other petroleum-based materials outside bona fide firefighting training, and bars burning hazardous waste or its containers, or burning tied to a salvage operation or commercial/industrial waste destruction.

Beyond the flat prohibitions, the fire marshal holds standing authority to shut burning down: the fire marshal must prohibit open burning when atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make fires hazardous, and can order the owner, another person, or the fire department itself to extinguish any open burning that adds to a hazardous situation or has been left unattended. The same authority applies statewide during a declared air pollution alert, warning, or emergency episode under 9 VAC 5-70, when all open burning and use of special incineration devices in the affected air quality region must stop immediately. Anyone conducting any permitted open burning still must notify the fire marshal's office through the county's emergency communications center before and after the burn.