Erie County, NY Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Outdoor burning in Erie County is regulated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation under 6 NYCRR Part 215 (Open Fires). Erie County itself has not adopted a separate county-level open-burning local law, so the state regulation is the operative rule for unincorporated land and applies in parallel with any stricter town or village ordinance.

Under 6 NYCRR §215.3(a), on-site burning of downed limbs and branches less than six inches in diameter and eight feet in length is permitted only in towns with a total population less than 20,000, and only between May 15 and the following March 15. Most Erie County towns — including Amherst, Cheektowaga, Tonawanda, West Seneca, Hamburg, Lancaster, Orchard Park, Clarence, and Grand Island — exceed the 20,000-population threshold, meaning open brush burning is effectively prohibited there year-round under state law. Smaller towns such as Sardinia, Wales, Holland, North Collins, Marilla, Brant, and Newstead may qualify for the small-town exception outside the spring ban period, but §215.3(a) explicitly states the exception "shall not be construed to allow burning within any village" within those towns.

From March 16 through May 14 each year, the statewide residential brush-burning prohibition (§215.3(a)(1)) applies everywhere in Erie County regardless of town size, reflecting the elevated wildfire risk during the early spring dry-out. The regulation expressly prohibits burning of household garbage, leaves, tires, demolition debris, or any material other than the limited brush described above (§215.2). Permitted exceptions include small cooking fires, ceremonial or celebratory fires, and campfires under 3 feet in height and 2 feet in length/width, provided only clean dry untreated wood is burned (§215.3(b)–(d)).