Grand Prairie, TX Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)
Outdoor burning rules in Grand Prairie, TX, 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
- Permit required
- Fire marshal permit for commercial land-clearing burns
- Permit fee
- $1,000.00 non-refundable per application
- Permit term
- 30 days, one 30-day extension allowed
- Setback
- 300 feet from residential/commercial/industrial areas
- Allowed hours
- Mon-Fri, 1 hr after sunrise to 1 hr before sunset
- Wind limits
- Must be 6-23 mph, blowing away from people
- Max fine
- $2,000 fire-safety penalty (Sec. 1-8(c))
Summary
Grand Prairie requires a fire marshal permit before anyone conducts outdoor burning for commercial land clearing, and bans open burning outright whenever weather or smoke make it hazardous. Sec. 12-7 sets a $1,000 non-refundable permit fee, a 30-day term, strict wind and distance limits, and lets the fire marshal shut down any burn, permitted or not, that turns hazardous.
No person may conduct any outdoor burning for commercial land clearing purposes within the city unless and until such person has obtained from the fire marshal's office an outdoor burning permit. ... Outdoor burning for commercial land clearing purposes shall require a non-refundable permit fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for each application. ... Outdoor burning for commercial land clearing purposes shall be conducted at least three hundred (300) feet away from any residential, commercial or industrial area. (b)Prohibited outdoor burning. All outdoor and/or open burning shall be prohibited when atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make such fires hazardous, or when it is determined by the fire marshal, or his designee, that the fire is producing offensive or objectionable smoke.(c)Extinguishment authority. Where outdoor burning creates or adds to a hazardous situation, or a required permit for outdoor burning has not been obtained, the fire marshal, or his designee, is authorized to order the extinguishment of the outdoor burning operation or activity.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 116).
Full Breakdown
Section 12-7(a) of the Grand Prairie Code makes it unlawful to conduct outdoor burning for commercial land clearing without a permit from the fire marshal's office, and the fire chief may approve one only when there is no practical alternative to burning. The burn must run within an air-curtain incineration trench no wider than 12 feet, no longer than 35 feet, and at least 10 feet deep. 00 per application; the permit runs 30 days and can be extended another 30 days for weather or other valid reasons, but the holder must get the fire marshal's office's approval on a daily basis before each day's burning.
Burning may only run Monday through Friday, starting no earlier than one hour after sunrise and ending at least one hour before sunset, and it is barred whenever surface wind speed is below 6 mph or above 23 mph, whenever wind direction would carry smoke toward a residential, recreational, commercial or industrial area, and unless the burn site sits at least 300 feet from any residential, commercial or industrial area. The fire chief can revoke a permit on the spot for nuisance conditions, noncompliance with permit terms, an air-quality or fire-department violation, or a hazardous condition.
Subsection (b) goes beyond the permit system: it prohibits all outdoor or open burning, permitted or not, whenever atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make the fire hazardous or the fire marshal determines it is producing offensive or objectionable smoke. Subsection (c) backs that up with extinguishment authority, letting the fire marshal or a designee order any hazardous burn extinguished immediately, whether or not the operator holds a valid permit.
Violations & Fines
Burning without the required permit, or violating a permit's terms, exposes the operator to revocation under subsection (a)(10) and to the Code's fire-safety penalty in Sec. 1-8(c), a fine of up to $2,000.00 per day of violation. Holding a burn permit does not shield the operator from civil damages or from complying with every other applicable law, so a permitted burn that causes a nuisance or property damage can still create liability separate from any citation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to burn brush after clearing land in Grand Prairie?
Can the city stop a burn that already has a permit?
What if weather conditions make burning unsafe?
How much does an outdoor burning permit cost and how long does it last?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Grand Prairie
How Grand Prairie compares: Cities with the Strictest Outdoor Burning Rules·Texas rules heatmap·Compare Grand Prairie to another location·View the Texas fire regulations overview
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Outdoor Burning in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Dallas County handle outdoor burning.