Yolo County, CA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Yolo County Code Title 7 Chapter 1 adopts the California Fire Code by reference (Section 7-1.02), with County-specific amendments in Section 7-1.11. Under California Fire Code Section 307.2, '[a] permit shall be obtained from the fire code official in accordance with Section 105.5 prior to kindling a fire for recognized silvicultural or range or wildlife management practices, prevention or control of disease or pests, or open burning.' In addition, the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District directly regulates all outdoor burning under YSAQMD Regulation II. Per YSAQMD's published rural-yard-burning rules: 'Rural yard burning is permitted in Yolo-Solano AQMD only on District approved burn days and only when authorized by a resident's local fire district. Fires may not start before 9 a.m. and smolder or burn later than 5:00 p.m. Piles cannot exceed 4 feet high by 6 feet diameter and must maintain 50 feet clearance from neighboring property and structures, plus 15 feet from combustible materials. Only dry, vegetative material may be burned - including tree prunings, leaves, weeds, crop stubble, and ditch banks. Trash, lumber, plywood, treated wood, plastic, pallets, furniture, and construction materials may NOT be burned.' Residents must call the YSAQMD agricultural burn line at (530) 757-3660 each morning to confirm burn-day status, and contact Yolo County fire dispatch at (530) 666-8998 to notify the local fire district before ignition. Agricultural burns also require an annual ag-burn permit and pre-ignition authorization from YSAQMD. Cal Fire maintains its own burn-permit suspensions for State Responsibility Area portions of western Yolo County (the Capay Valley, Dunnigan Hills, and surrounding rangelands), typically from late spring through fall.