Manatee County, FL Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Section 3.05 makes open burning unlawful "except as specifically allowed pursuant to this regulation," and lets the Florida Division of Forestry (DOF) or an authorized local fire district physically extinguish any noncompliant fire, billing the responsible person for the suppression cost. The county adopted this code under Chapter 125, Florida Statutes, and incorporates Rule 62-256.300(1) through (9), Florida Administrative Code, wholesale by reference, so a fire barred under the state air-pollution rule is barred here too. Section 3.05(c) adds a standalone trigger: no burning at all, permitted or not, during a National Weather Service or FDEP Air Stagnation Advisory, a local air pollution advisory, or when officials judge weather conditions unsafe for burning.

Where burning is allowed, EMD runs the permit system under Sections 3.06 and 3.07: an application, a site inspection by the director or designee, sign-off from the local fire district on access and safety, and a fee scaled to the burn category (residential yard trash, land clearing, nursery, fire-training, or recreational bonfires). The permit must be displayed on site; failing to produce it for an inspector is grounds for revocation. Section 3.09 makes accepting a permit "consent by the landowner or leaseholder" to on-site inspection before, during and after the burn, and lets the board delegate inspection duties to a local fire district by interlocal agreement under Section 163.01, Florida Statutes, though Category V fire-training burns can never be delegated.