Miami Beach, FL Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Chapter 50 of the Miami Beach City Code, "Fire Prevention and Protection," folds the city's open-burning control into its fire-permit fee schedule rather than a stand-alone burn code. Section 50-10(f) is unambiguous: obtaining a fire department permit is a precondition to any open burning activity anywhere in the city, not just a formality for large fires. 00, and the fire chief can add a separate staffing fee if department personnel need to be on scene while material burns. The section was last amended by Ordinance No.

2025-4772 on September 17, 2025, part of a broader update to the chapter's permit and fee provisions that also touched pyrotechnics and fireworks permitting in the same section. Enforcement runs through the fire marshal's office: burning without the permit, submitting false information to get one, or breaking a condition written into the permit all trigger the same penalty, a fine equal to double the underlying fee as specified in subsection 50-3(d), on top of whatever inspection costs already applied. The rule sits alongside a separate beach-specific ban: City Code Sec.

46-203(a)(2), part of the marine turtle protection article, separately prohibits "the building of campfires or bonfires" on the beach at nighttime during nesting season, defined as April 1 through October 31, regardless of any Chapter 50 permit. Anyone planning an open burn, from land-clearing debris to a permitted event fire, needs to apply to the fire department before lighting anything, and should expect the fee to move each year because appendix A rates are adjusted annually for the Consumer Price Index under subsection 50-10(m).