Howard County, MD Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

108(b), part of the county's air-pollution provisions, opens with a blanket rule: except as the subsection allows, no person shall cause or allow an open fire, defined as burning material in the open or in a receptacle other than a furnace, incinerator, or other equipment vented to a stack or chimney. A short list of uses is allowed without any permit at all: cooking food for noncommercial reasons, recreational fires such as campfires, and oil- or gas-fired salamanders used for outdoor space heating that create no visible emissions.

Beyond that list, burning requires the Health Officer's written permission, which the code splits into several tracks: public officers may set or authorize an emergency fire with the Health Officer's concurrence to abate a fire hazard, train firefighters, or protect public health when no other disposal method exists; farmers may get written permission to burn in connection with growing crops, raising fowl or animals, or accepted forestry practice, though that permit never covers ordinary household or farm trash; and any other open fire needs a permit conditioned on there being no practical disposal alternative, no resulting hazard or nuisance, and a location at least 500 yards (457 meters) from an occupied building or a heavily traveled public road.

Materials that produce dense smoke, including tires and roofing materials, may never be burned under any permit, and material cannot be brought in from elsewhere just to be burned on-site. The Health Officer can attach further conditions to any permit to limit smoke and protect health and safety. 00 for a third or subsequent offense.