Outdoor burning rules in San Diego County, CA — also called the burn ban, open burning, or fire restriction ordinance — set when you can burn yard waste, debris, or run a recreational fire.
Open outdoor burning in unincorporated San Diego County requires a burn permit and is tightly regulated by the Air Pollution Control District (Rule 101) and the local fire district. Residential trash burning is banned in the western (urbanized) section. Burning is only allowed on declared permissive-burn days and not during high fire danger.
Open outdoor burning in unincorporated San Diego County is governed by the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) under Rule 101 (Regulation VI - Burning Control) and by the local fire protection district. The APCD coordinates burn rules but does not issue permits directly; a person must obtain a burn permit from the local fire authority, and burning may only occur on a declared permissive-burn day. Rule 101 prohibits a wide range of open burning, including residential burning in the Western Section of the air district, and disposal by burning of household trash, construction or demolition debris, tires, plastics, treated wood, painted material, and dead animals. Recreational, ceremonial, and cooking fires are exempt provided only clean dry wood, charcoal, natural gas, or propane is used and no nuisance is created (Rule 101(c)(1)(ii)). Agricultural burning and fire-hazard-reduction (brush) burning are allowed only by permit and only where the fire district determines no economically and ecologically viable alternative exists. Even on an air-quality burn day, the local fire district can prohibit burning when fire danger is high, and CAL FIRE routinely suspends burn permits during fire season across the County's Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones. Residential incinerators are separately prohibited in the unincorporated area (County Fire Code Sec. 603.8.1).
Burning without a required permit, on a no-burn day, or of prohibited materials violates APCD Rule 101 and the Fire Code. Penalties include administrative APCD enforcement and, under the Fire Code (Sec. 109.3), a misdemeanor with each day a separate offense. Negligently allowing a fire to escape can trigger cost recovery under Health & Safety Code section 13000 et seq.
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See how San Diego County's outdoor burning rules stack up against other locations.
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