Kendall County, IL Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Kendall County's open burning rule sits in Chapter 18, Sec. 18-22, alongside the county's other public health nuisance provisions. Subsection (a) bans open burning of garbage outright unless it happens at a facility holding an Illinois EPA permit to incinerate garbage, and even then the burning must follow every IEPA rule for lawful burning. Subsection (b) goes further for toxic materials: burning leather, rubber, carpets, furniture, plastic, tires, and other IEPA-defined toxic materials is prohibited at all times anywhere in the County, again unless the facility holds an IEPA burning permit and follows IEPA rules.

The only burning the County allows without an IEPA facility permit is yard waste, and only where burning is otherwise permitted and only on the property where the waste was generated. Subsection (c) attaches seven conditions to that yard-waste allowance: atmospheric conditions must allow contaminants to disperse; burning is barred on IEPA-declared 'code red' or 'ozone action' alert days; the fire cannot create a visibility hazard on roadways, railroad tracks, or airfields; it must stay at least twenty feet from any building or structure; someone must supervise the fire until it is fully out, with a hose or extinguisher on hand; the material burned must be clean and dry; and it cannot contain varnish, paint, finishes, or other chemicals that would create toxic emissions, which loops back to the Subsection (b) toxic-material ban.