Pender County, NC Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Code § 16-15(a) folds the county's illegal-burning rule directly into the state's air quality open burning rule, 15A NCAC 02D.1901 et seq., meaning the categories the county cannot let residents burn track the state list: household garbage, construction and demolition debris, business-related debris, tires, rubber products, plastic products, and vegetative debris that was not generated on-site. The county fire marshal, or an authorized representative, enforces this list and is expressly given authority to issue civil penalties for violations under § 16-10, the general fire code penalty section.

Section 16-15(b) extends the fire marshal's reach further, letting the office also enforce the burning-related provisions of the county's separate solid waste ordinance whenever waste materials are involved. This dual authority means a resident burning debris in unincorporated Pender County can be cited under the fire code, the solid waste ordinance, or both, depending on what was burned. The rule sits in Chapter 16, the Fire Prevention and Protection Code, which the fire marshal administers under § 16-3 and which incorporates the state building code's Volume V Fire Prevention provisions by reference under § 16-4, giving the fire marshal's inspections and permit authority under §§ 16-5 and 16-6 additional reach over burning-related hazards on top of the illegal-burning section itself.