Pasco, WA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)
Outdoor burning rules in Pasco, WA, also called the burn ban, open burning, or fire restriction ordinance, set when you can burn yard waste, debris, or run a recreational fire.
Key Facts
- Governing section
- PMC 8.05.230
- Default rule
- No outdoor burning permitted
- Exception 1
- Burns allowed under Air Pollution Control Authority Reg. 1
- Exception 2
- Burns allowed under the City fire code
- First-offense penalty
- Up to $500 civil infraction
- Continuing penalty
- $50 per day, plus court costs
Summary
PMC 8.05.230 bars all outdoor burning in Pasco unless it is specifically allowed under Regulation 1 of the Benton-Franklin-Walla Walla Counties Air Pollution Control Authority and the City's fire code. Absent one of those narrow exceptions, burning trash, yard debris, or other solid waste outdoors is prohibited citywide.
No burning shall be permitted except as allowed under Regulation 1 of the Benton-Franklin-Walla Walla Counties air pollution control authority dated January 1, 1972, or as amended, and the fire code of the City.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 4837, passed May 4, 2026).
Full Breakdown
230, simply titled Burning, states the default flatly: no burning is permitted in Pasco except as allowed under Regulation 1 of the Benton-Franklin-Walla Walla Counties air pollution control authority, dated January 1, 1972, as amended, and under the City's fire code. That structure makes burning the exception rather than the rule; a resident cannot point to silence in the fire code as permission, both the air authority's regulation and the fire code have to affirmatively allow the specific burn. 05, Solid Waste Disposal, so it applies squarely to burning trash, yard waste, and other refuse in yards, burn barrels, or open piles rather than governing recreational or cooking fires addressed elsewhere in the fire code.
Because the air pollution authority's Regulation 1 is the referenced permitting mechanism, any seasonal burn ban, agricultural burn permit, or land-clearing exception the authority issues is what actually opens a narrow door under this section; without a current, applicable authorization from that authority and consistency with the fire code, any open burn in the city is unlawful. 350 lets the City proceed by civil complaint in Municipal Court or through the Code Enforcement Board.
Violations & Fines
An open burn without air-authority and fire-code authorization violates PMC 8.05.230 and is punishable under the chapter's general penalty, PMC 8.05.340, as a civil infraction, with a penalty of up to $500 for a first violation and $50 for each day the burning or violation continues, under the schedule set in PMC 1.40.050(5), plus court costs and statutory assessments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I burn yard waste in my backyard in Pasco?
Who actually issues burn permits that apply in Pasco?
What's the penalty for illegal open burning in Pasco?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pasco
How Pasco compares: Cities with the Strictest Outdoor Burning Rules·Compare Pasco to another location·View the Washington fire regulations overview
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