Farmington Hills, MI Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Sec. ' Everything after that sentence is a list of eight narrowly defined exceptions, covering things like matches used to light an otherwise-lawful fire, smoking material, disease and pest-control burns, firefighter training fires, fireplaces inside a fully enclosed building, and the grill/fire-pit rules that apply separately to one-family homes and multifamily buildings. The broadest discretionary exemption is subsection (8), covering campfires and other outdoor fires held by educational, religious, charitable or governmental agencies for recreational or ceremonial purposes. Those require prior fire department approval issued as a written permit; applications go through the fire prevention office during business hours and must state the applicant's name and address, the burn location, the material to be burned, and the planned date and time.

The city council can set a fee by resolution to cover administrative costs. Critically, the fire chief or designee has full discretion to grant a permit with or without conditions, deny it outright based on public safety, or cancel and revoke a permit already issued at any time if the burning is later found to endanger people or property. That gives the fire department standing authority to shut down an approved burn mid-course, not just to screen applications up front. Anything burned outside these eight categories, from leaf piles to construction debris to unpermitted bonfires, is flatly prohibited regardless of weather or how it is conducted.