Kent, WA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Kent City Code 9.02.400 adopts Chapter 52.12 RCW, 'Powers - Burning permits,' by reference, giving RCW 52.12.105 and 52.12.106 the same force and effect as if written directly into the Kent code. RCW 52.12.106 states plainly that any violation of or failure to comply with a burning-permit chapter provision, or with any term or condition of the permit itself, is a misdemeanor. Because KCC 9.02.010(D) declares that by adopting state statutes the city 'intends to assume jurisdiction over and become the jurisdictional authority for the enforcement and prosecution of misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor crimes... committed within the city limits of Kent,' Kent Municipal Court, not a county or state court, handles burning-permit misdemeanors that occur within city limits.

KCC 9.02.010(G) further allows a Kent police officer or prosecutor to cite directly to the RCW section number when writing a citation or complaint for one of these adopted offenses, so a Kent burning-permit charge references '52.12.106' even though it is enforced as city law. Because Kent has no separate outdoor-burning chapter of its own, anyone burning without the required permit, or violating a permit condition, is exposed to the misdemeanor penalty. Washington's default misdemeanor penalty scale, RCW 9A.20.021(3), caps a misdemeanor at 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both, and Kent Municipal Court applies that scale to burning-permit violations charged under the adopted statute.