Eugene, OR Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)
Outdoor burning rules in Eugene, OR, 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
- General rule
- Outdoor/open burning banned (EC 6.200)
- Cooking fires
- Excepted if in fireplace/barbecue set
- Campsite fires
- Excepted only in approved fire pits
- Fire-hazard exception
- Written fire marshal permit required
- Fine
- Up to $200 (EC 6.992)
- Fire-hazard accumulation
- Separately a nuisance under (2)
Summary
EC 6.200 bans essentially all outdoor burning in Eugene, from bonfires and rubbish fires to land-clearing and commercial burning, with only cooking fires, approved-campsite fires, firefighter training burns, and fire marshal permits for unavoidable fire hazards excepted. Any material left to accumulate into a fire hazard is itself a separate nuisance.
(1) No person shall kindle, maintain or allow to be maintained, an outdoor fire, bonfire, rubbish fire or garbage fire; nor shall any person kindle, maintain or allow to be maintained a fire for the purpose of burning grass, hay or straw, tree limbs and trimmings; nor shall any person maintain or allow to be maintained a fire for land clearing operations, or commercial burning; nor shall any person kindle, maintain or allow to be maintained any other type of open burning with the following exceptions: ... (d) In cases of fire hazard that cannot in the judgment of the fire marshal be removed or disposed of in any other practical manner, a fire may be allowed by written permit only. Said permit is to be issued by the fire marshal.
Full Breakdown
" The section then carves out four exceptions: (a) an outdoor recreation fire used for cooking in a fireplace, barbecue set, or an outdoor fire used only for cooking; (b) a recreation fire in an approved campsite, in fire pits provided; (c) fires set for firefighting or fire-protection-personnel training; and (d) a fire hazard the fire marshal judges cannot practically be removed or disposed of otherwise, which may be burned only under a written permit issued by the fire marshal. Subsection (2) adds a second, related prohibition: no person may accumulate or allow material to accumulate that the fire marshal judges to constitute a fire hazard, and any such pile is itself a nuisance subject to abatement under the chapter's general nuisance procedure.
The section sits in the "Air Pollution Regulations" portion of chapter 6, alongside Eugene's motor-vehicle-emissions and tobacco-smoking rules, and should be read together with any current state or Lane Regional Air Protection Agency burn-ban declarations, which operate independently of this city ordinance.
Violations & Fines
EC 6.200 has no section-specific fine listed in EC 6.990, so a violation, kindling a bonfire, rubbish fire or unpermitted open fire, is punishable under the chapter's general penalty, EC 6.992, by a fine of up to $200. A pile the fire marshal deems a fire hazard under subsection (2) is separately enforceable as a nuisance, giving code compliance a second, abatement-based track with its own notice and correction period.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I have a bonfire in my backyard in Eugene?
Does Eugene ever issue burn permits?
What's the fine for illegal open burning in Eugene?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Eugene
How Eugene compares: Cities with the Strictest Outdoor Burning Rules·Compare Eugene to another location·View the Oregon fire regulations overview
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