Hanover County, VA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Section 9-12 of Hanover County's fire prevention chapter lists eight separate open-burning prohibitions that apply countywide, including the Town of Ashland, unless another section of Division 1 creates an exception. Subsection (a) bars burning garbage or refuse; subsection (b) bars burning leaves and tree, yard and garden trimmings except as scheduled elsewhere in the division; subsection (c) bars burning rubber tires, asphaltic materials, crankcase oil, impregnated wood or other rubber or petroleum-based materials except at a permanent firefighting training facility; subsection (d) bars burning hazardous waste or its containers outright, with no exception; subsection (e) bars burning for a salvage operation or destruction of commercial, industrial or demolition waste, including torn-down buildings, barns, sheds or outbuildings, except under a Section 9-13 land-clearing permit; subsection (f) bars burning material hauled in from another property; subsection (g) bars burning flammable or combustible liquids or gaseous material except as the division permits; and subsection (h) bars anyone under 18 years old from causing or permitting open burning at all, with no exception.

1 (permissible open burning without a permit) and 9-13 (permits for land-clearing and other burning), both administered by the fire marshal. Section 9-14 lets the fire marshal declare open burning prohibited countywide or in part of the county during drought or extreme fire-hazard conditions, notifying the public through the Fire-EMS Department's Communication Plan, and that emergency ban stays in force until the fire marshal declares it terminated.