LaPorte County, IN Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Chapter 130's General Provisions add a narrow, specific burning ban aimed at county roads rather than a countywide open-burning code. 03(B) sets a flat $500 fine for anyone who violates it, with no graduated first-offense/repeat-offense schedule and no exception written into the text for storm cleanup, agricultural residue, or seasonal leaf disposal. The ordinance was adopted as Ord. 2006-15 on November 21, 2006, and sits in Chapter 130 (General Offenses) alongside unrelated provisions on weapons in county buildings and courthouse-lawn access, rather than in the county's environmental or zoning titles.

Because the text is limited to the "traveled or paved portion" of a road, it reaches burning done on the road surface itself, a practice of pushing leaves or debris onto the roadway and burning it there, not burning conducted in a yard, field, or ditch off the pavement. LaPorte County's general code does not contain a companion section setting hours, permits, or a burn-ban authority for private-property open burning; property owners burning off the roadway fall outside this section. 99; the $500 figure is written directly into the section itself, so no separate look-up is required to know the exposure for a violation.