Lyon County, NV Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Lyon County Code chapter 270 governs open burning, defined at section 15.270.01 as 'any fire from which the products of combustion are emitted into the atmosphere without passing through a stack or chimney.' The rule is enforced separately by whichever of the county's four Fire Protection Districts has jurisdiction: the Central Lyon County, Mason Valley, North Lyon County, and Smith Valley Fire Protection Districts, each organized under Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 474. Section 15.270.02 requires a permit from the Fire Chief or a designee of the district with jurisdiction before kindling or maintaining an open fire for weed abatement, conservation, disease control, game or forest management, personnel training, hazard elimination, agriculture, recreation, education or ceremony, on either public or private land.

Section 15.270.03 ties the permit holder to the burning regulations printed on the burn permit and makes the permittee responsible for fire suppression costs. Burn barrels are addressed separately at section 15.270.04: they may be used only where permitted and only in compliance with the burn permit and the district's regulations. Hours of burning are set by each Fire District individually under section 15.270.05, and a permit holder must confirm with the district that burning is allowed on a given day before igniting. Section 15.270.09 flatly prohibits burning garbage, trash, waste, rubbish, toxic materials, construction debris, plastics or other hydrocarbon products or fuels in every Fire District, with no permit exception.

A Fire District and its officers may extinguish any fire violating the chapter without further legal process under section 15.270.07, and the chapter's provisions can only be waived in extraordinary circumstances by written Fire Chief authorization under section 15.270.08.