Hanford, CA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Hanford Municipal Code § 15.02.030(D)(6) rewrites California Fire Code § 307.1.1 so that no person may burn any refuse or other material in an open, outdoor fire within the City Limits of Hanford, except for seven listed categories. The exceptions cover fires set or authorized by a City of Hanford fire officer for hazard prevention or firefighter training; safety flares for combusting waste gases; fires used only for cooking food for human consumption; backfires and other fire-control methods used to fight an existing wildfire; burning for right-of-way clearing, levee and ditch-bank maintenance, fence rows, and tumbleweeds; agricultural burning as separately defined in the code; and warming fires permitted by the Fire Department.

The prohibition sits inside the same amendment package that separately regulates barbecue pits and outdoor fireplaces at § 15.02.030(D)(7), so a backyard fire pit or fireplace is judged under that companion clearance rule, not the open-burning ban, once it meets the equipment standard. Enforcement runs through the Fire Marshal: § 15.02.030(D)(1) makes it an infraction to maintain a fire hazard on property under one's control, or to fail to abate it after the Fire Marshal orders correction, and it makes the responsible person liable for the city's cost of fighting any fire the hazard caused, a debt the city can pursue and assess as a lien against the property through the County Auditor's tax roll.

The Fire Chief may grant minor modifications to enforcement on a written application showing practical difficulty, provided public safety is preserved, under § 15.02.030(D)(9).