Dearborn County, IN Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Open burning in Dearborn County is governed by § 96.01 Burning Ban, the single section of Chapter 96 Fire Prevention. It is an emergency mechanism. The President of the Board of Commissioners can declare, pursuant to I.C. 10-14-3-29, that a state of emergency exists necessitating a burn ban, and the declaration invokes the applicable portions of the Indiana Code along with the full force and effect of the section. The declaration is in effect until the next meeting of the Board of Commissioners, when the Board either rejects it, which ends the ban immediately, or ratifies it, which keeps the ban in full force until the Board declares the end of the emergency.

Once a declaration is issued, § 96.01(B) lists four activities that can be prohibited. Campfires and other recreational fires are limited to those inside a fire ring of at least 23 inches in diameter and ten inches or more in height. Open burning of any kind using wood or any other combustible matter is prohibited, with an exception for cooking grills fueled by charcoal briquettes or propane gas. Open burning of any kind of debris, such as timber, vegetation, building construction waste or otherwise, is prohibited with an exception for burning barrels that have a one-quarter inch mesh top, and that burning is permitted from dawn to dusk only. The fourth item reaches consumer fireworks, subject to I.C. 22-11-14-10.5.

The section also puts duties on people. Under § 96.01(F), all public officials and employees of Dearborn County are called upon to exercise the utmost diligence in their duties for the duration of the emergency, and § 96.01(G) directs all county residents to comply with emergency management measures, cooperate with public officials and obey the lawful directions of properly identified officers.

A separate rule in § 50.33 governs refuse disposal sites: no refuse shall be burned at a refuse disposal site.