Montgomery County, VA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Outside Blacksburg and Christiansburg, landowners burning woods, brush, logs, leaves, grass or debris on their own property must first take all reasonable precautions, cutting and piling material or clearing around it, to keep fire from spreading to neighboring land, under Section 4-3(a). and midnight; federal land is exempt from this seasonal window. A narrow carve-out lets a certified prescribed-burn manager conduct approved prescribed burns between February 15 and March 1 for invasive-species control, wildlife habitat work or natural heritage management, but only with the state forester's prior written approval of the burn prescription.

Separately, Section 4-4 gives the county a blanket shutdown power: whenever the director of emergency services, on the state forester's recommendation, determines the county's forest lands, brushlands and fields have become dry enough to pose a serious fire hazard, it becomes unlawful for anyone to set an open fire, do open burning, or use recreational fires or bonfires until the emergency is lifted. The county administrator or a designee serves as the director of emergency services for this purpose. Careless or negligent burning that damages another's property is separately punishable under Section 4-2, which also makes the responsible party liable for firefighting costs.