Grand Forks, ND Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

The City of Grand Forks adopted the 2021 International Fire Code by reference in City Code Section 12-0201 and then rewrote the code's open-burning trigger. Under the local amendment, open burning is prohibited only when it is offensive or objectionable because of smoke emissions, or when atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make the fire hazardous, rather than a blanket ban on every open flame outdoors. The fire code official, housed in the Grand Forks Fire Department under Section 12-0102, administers and enforces the International Fire Code and its Grand Forks amendments citywide.

The same amended article also restricts open-flame cooking devices under Section 308.1.4, limiting LP-gas cooking appliances to a container of twenty pounds or less and excluding turkey fryers and other deep-oil cookers from that exception, and it separately bans releasing sky lanterns under Section 308.1(6.3). Section 12-0202 sets a single penalty for any violation of the fire code article, including the open-burning amendment: a fine of up to one thousand dollars, with each day a violation continues counted as a separate offense. Because the standard turns on whether smoke or hazard conditions exist rather than on a fixed calendar ban, the fire code official has discretion to order a fire extinguished once it becomes objectionable to neighbors or dangerous given wind, drought or other local conditions, and a resident who keeps burning after that determination is exposed to the daily fine under Section 12-0202.