Outdoor burning rules in Lancaster County, NE — also called the burn ban, open burning, or fire restriction ordinance — set when you can burn yard waste, debris, or run a recreational fire.
Lincoln prohibits open burning of refuse or salvage material inside the city, with narrow exceptions for small cooking or ceremonial fires and permitted land-clearance burns. Burning garbage, leaves, brush, and other yard waste is not allowed.
Lincoln Municipal Code 8.06.140 makes it unlawful to cause or permit open burning of refuse or salvage material within city limits, except: small cooking or ceremonial fires under eight cubic feet, land-clearance vegetation burns with a permit, and other fires permitted under 8.06.145. Burning garbage or salvage material, and any burning whose smoke crosses onto a neighbor's property to become a public nuisance, is prohibited. In the surrounding zoning jurisdiction, residential and agricultural open burning within 100 yards of an occupied structure requires a permit, and only refuse indigenous to the property may be burned. Permits are obtained through the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department under 8.06.145.
Illegal open burning is a nuisance violation enforced by the Health Department and Fire & Rescue; the Director may revoke permits and order fires extinguished when conditions are hazardous.
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