Bergen County, NJ Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

" That single sentence is the county's general open-burning ban: any fire lit anywhere in the park system other than a place the county has designated for it violates the rule. The "places provided" are spelled out elsewhere in the same ordinance. Article III Section (h), Cooking, confines visitor fires to portable grills in designated picnic areas and to campsite ground fires, requires permanent grills at Van Saun County Park, bans grilling entirely at Overpeck County Park, and bars cooking with propane or similar fuel except at certain permitted events.

Camping fires get their own layer of control: Article IV Section (d)(V) requires campers to obtain a separate Fire Permit from the county Fire Warden before lighting a campsite fire, on top of the camping permit itself, and requires that fires stay in approved fireplaces, that combustible material be kept at least ten feet away, and that a live fire never be left unattended. Because Section (l) sets no dedicated fine, a violation defaults to Article IX's general penalty, and Parks staff or the Bergen County Sheriff's Office may eject a violator from the park.