Rochester, NY Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)
Outdoor burning rules in Rochester, NY, 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 chapter
- Municipal Code Ch. 100, Smoke and Air Pollution Control
- Smoke standard
- Ringelmann No. 2 or greater is unlawful
- Covers
- Any bonfire or open fire, not just industrial stacks
- Enforcing office
- Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development
- Criminal penalty
- Up to $150 fine or 15 days, or both
- Civil penalty alternative
- $25 to $500 per day
Summary
Rochester's Smoke and Air Pollution Control chapter declares dense smoke, defined as No. 2 or greater on the Ringelmann Chart, a nuisance and makes it unlawful to let it escape from any open fire, chimney, stack or combustion equipment in the city, with only narrow allowances for lighting or cleaning a fuel bed.
Dense smoke is hereby declared to be a nuisance, and the emission or escape thereof from any locomotive, tug, boat, stack, chimney or flue of any premises, building, fuel-burning equipment, roundhouse, portable equipment or other similar contrivance or from any open fire shall be unlawful; provided, however, that the following exceptions to the provisions of this section shall be permitted.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4935326; v86 updated 2026-06-16; through 06-16-2026).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 100 of the Municipal Code defines an 'open fire' as any bonfire, open incinerator basket, or any fire whose combustion products go directly into the open air rather than through a stack or chimney (Section 100-1). S. Bureau of Mines Ringelmann Chart, to be a nuisance and makes its emission or escape from any open fire, locomotive, boat, stack, chimney, flue or portable equipment unlawful. Two narrow exceptions apply to combustion equipment, not general open fires: 20 minutes in each 24 hours is allowed for lighting a wholly fresh fuel bed, and 10 minutes in each 8 hours for cleaning ashes from grates or removing soot from flue passages.
' The Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development enforces the chapter and has the power to enter, examine and inspect premises, and anyone who hinders that inspection commits a separate violation under Section 100-6. The chapter dates to 1951 and predates today's Fire Prevention Code permit system in Chapter 54; the two operate together, meaning an open fire in Rochester can be both unpermitted under Chapter 54 and a smoke nuisance under Chapter 100 at the same time.
Violations & Fines
Anyone who violates Chapter 100 is subject, on conviction, to a fine of up to $150 or up to 15 days in jail, or both, or a civil penalty of $25 to $500 recoverable by the City, with each day of violation counted as a separate offense under Section 100-7.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is open burning banned outright in Rochester?
What counts as an 'open fire' under Rochester's Chapter 100?
What is the penalty for illegal open burning in Rochester?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Rochester
How Rochester compares: Cities with the Strictest Outdoor Burning Rules·New York rules heatmap·Compare Rochester to another location·View the New York fire regulations overview
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