Chino Hills, CA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Chino Hills is located in San Bernardino County within the South Coast Air Basin, which is regulated for air quality by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD). The District is explicit that burning residential waste outdoors is not allowed anywhere in its jurisdiction — covering Orange County and the non-desert portions of Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. That means homeowners may not burn trash, leaves, brush piles, construction debris, or other household waste in their yards. Open burning generally is governed by South Coast AQMD Rule 444 (Open Burning), which is geared toward narrowly approved agricultural and prescribed/hazard-reduction burns that require a Burn Authorization Number and approval from the local fire protection agency — not backyard waste disposal. Separately, the South Coast AQMD's 'Check Before You Burn' program (in effect roughly November through February) issues mandatory no-burn alerts that prohibit even indoor and outdoor wood-burning, including manufactured fire logs, on days when fine-particulate pollution is forecast to be high. On top of air-district rules, the California Fire Code (enforced locally by the Chino Valley Independent Fire District) requires permits and prohibits open burning that would create a hazard, and bans solid-fuel burning in fire hazard severity zones and Wildland-Urban Interface areas — relevant to the hillside and Carbon Canyon portions of Chino Hills. In short, routine backyard burning of waste or yard debris is not permitted; vegetation must instead be cut, chipped, hauled or composted.