Mendocino County, CA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)
Outdoor burning rules in Mendocino County, CA, also called the burn ban, open burning, or fire restriction ordinance, set when you can burn yard waste, debris, or run a recreational fire.
Key Facts
- Governing chapter
- Mendocino County Code Ch. 9.33
- First offense penalty
- up to $100 civil fine
- Repeat offense penalty
- up to $500 per violation
- Enforcing authority
- County Counsel / APCD
- Adopted
- Ordinance No. 3746, 1990
- Non-burn days set by
- CARB or county APCD
Summary
Mendocino County bans nearly all outdoor fires under Chapter 9.33 of the county code, except for newspaper used to start a fire, charcoal or firewood burned for cooking or recreation, and vegetative-matter burning already regulated under Air Pollution Control District Regulation 2. Open burning is also barred outright on any state- or district-declared non-burn day.
(A)No person shall ignite or cause to be ignited or suffer, allow or maintain any outdoor fire in Mendocino County, which fires burn any material except:(1)Vegetative matter. Agricultural and rural nonagricultural burning of vegetative matter is regulated by Regulation 2 of the North Coast Air Basin, and this Chapter is not an abridgement of that regulation;(2)Newspaper as necessary to start fires permitted by this Chapter;(3)Fuels, as defined in Section 9.33.040(D), when burned for the purpose of preparing food or for recreation.(B)No person shall ignite or cause to be ignited or suffer, or allow or maintain any outdoor fire on a day designated as a non-burn day by the California Air Resources Board or by the Mendocino County Air Pollution Control District, except as described in subsection A of this section.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 75).
Full Breakdown
040(D) as charcoal, firewood, charcoal starter fluid, and untreated, unpainted sawn lumber burned for cooking or recreation. 040(D) includes anything burned in a 55-gallon drum or similar container, so backyard burn barrels for household trash or paper are not exempt. Subsection (B) adds a separate rule: no outdoor fire of any kind, even one that would otherwise be allowed, may be lit on a day the California Air Resources Board or the Mendocino County Air Pollution Control District designates a non-burn day. 060 carves out narrow exemptions for fires set by a public officer to prevent an imminent fire hazard, to train firefighters, to set backfires under Public Resources Code Section 4426, to abate a fire hazard under Health and Safety Code Section 13055, for pest or disease control with no reasonable alternative, or for agricultural burning under Regulation 2.
The Board of Supervisors adopted the chapter in 1990 under Ordinance No. 3746, citing the county's basin topography and frequent temperature inversions that trap smoke and ash containing heavy metals and dioxins.
Violations & Fines
Violating Chapter 9.33 is an infraction under Section 1.04.110 of the county code, provable by the enforcing officer's visual observation of the fire or its aftermath. County Counsel may also seek civil penalties under Section 9.33.070: up to $100 for a first violation and up to $500 for each additional violation within one year, plus recovery of the county's hourly enforcement costs as set by Board resolution.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I burn yard waste in a burn barrel at my Mendocino County home?
What is a non-burn day and does it affect campfires?
What happens if I'm caught violating the outdoor burning ordinance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Mendocino County
How Mendocino County compares: Cities with the Strictest Outdoor Burning Rules·California rules heatmap·Compare Mendocino County to another location·View the California fire regulations overview
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