Cherokee County, GA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Sec. 28-108 lists the county's burning prohibitions, adopted by Ord. No. 2021-O-013 on 9-7-21 to safeguard public health, air quality and living conditions. Burning petroleum-based products such as tires, plastics and roof shingles that produce black smoke is prohibited outright, as is burning garbage of any kind and burning any material in a barrel (an approved incinerator or combustion unit is not considered a barrel). Burning in a barrel with a spark arrestor on top is allowed only as an approved warming fire on construction sites, and even then no treated lumber or garbage may be burned.

No outdoor burning is allowed on high-wind days (10 mph sustained or higher), when humidity is below 35 percent, or when cloudy, overcast or rainy conditions would keep smoke low to the ground. Yard waste can only be burned on the property where it fell or was cut, and burning is barred on the surface of any county or private road. The fire marshal can ban all outdoor burning when conditions make fires hazardous, or order any fire extinguished if it interferes with the enjoyment of life or property.

Sec. 28-105(c) layers on the EPD's statewide Summer Burn Ban, in effect countywide from May 1 through September 30 each year. Sec. 28-107 exempts grilling, indoor stove/fireplace burning, clean-wood burning in a chimenea or fire bowl at single-family homes, and fire department practice burns.