Roanoke, VA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Section 307.1.1, added to the Virginia Statewide Fire Prevention Code as adopted by the city under § 12-19, states flatly that no person shall ignite or maintain, or cause or permit to be ignited or maintained, any open fire on public or private property outside any building. The same section separately bans burning waste materials as part of salvage or demolition operations. The fire official, who under § 105.1.4 is the fire marshal of the fire prevention division, enforces the ban alongside the Roanoke Fire-EMS department.

The ban carries four narrow exceptions written into the ordinance: cooking fires in an approved device so long as no smoke violation or nuisance results; salamanders and similar outdoor heating devices kept at least 15 feet from any structure; recreational fires meeting the separate restrictions in Section 307.4.2; and fires the Fire-EMS chief or a designee sets in the line of duty, such as hazard abatement or firefighter training. Outside those exceptions, anyone who wants to kindle a fire for silvicultural or range or wildlife management practices, disease or pest control, a bonfire, or a campfire must first get a permit from the fire official under § 307.2, and only the landowner may apply for or hold that permit. Permit fees are set by the entries in the city's fee compendium referenced in Table 107.2. Because open burning is a fire code violation, it is enforced under the fire code's general enforcement and penalty provisions and abatement authority.