Owensboro, KY Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Owensboro Municipal Code § 10-7(a) makes it unlawful for any person to kindle or maintain a bonfire or rubbish fire, or to authorize one, on or in any public street, alley, road, or other public ground without a permit from the chief of the fire department. Subsection (b) extends the permit requirement to any open fire other than a qualifying recreational fire kindled on private land: no one may kindle or maintain, or authorize kindling, an open fire on private property without first obtaining the fire chief's permit.

During construction or demolition of a building, waste materials or rubbish cannot be disposed of by burning on the premises or in the immediate vicinity, and burning garbage or refuse that smolders or gives off noxious odors is prohibited outright, permit or not. Subsection (c) gives the fire chief authority to issue a permit under this section, and the permit 'will not be unreasonably withheld' upon a showing that the proposed fire won't endanger public health and safety and complies with the adopted fire code.

This permit-first structure means any bonfire, brush pile, or construction-debris fire in Owensboro needs the fire chief's advance sign-off unless it fits the narrow recreational-fire exemption in § 10-7(d), which covers only small, contained fires at one- and two-family homes.