Salt Lake County, UT Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)
Outdoor burning rules in Salt Lake County, UT, 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
- Salt Lake County Code §9.72.140(B)
- Enforcing agency
- Salt Lake Valley health department
- No-permit exceptions
- Food-prep devices, controlled campfires, indoor fireplaces
- Recreation fire cap
- 8-foot-diameter ring before a permit is required
- Barred outright
- Bonfires, Christmas-tree burns, rally fires
- Default penalty
- Infraction under general penalty §1.12.010
Summary
Salt Lake County Code section 9.72.140(B) bars burning trash, garbage or other waste in any open fire and bars open-air salvage operations anywhere in the unincorporated county, unless the burning fits one of the narrow no-permit exceptions or gets a permit under subsections C and D. The Salt Lake Valley health department administers and enforces the ban.
A.Community Waste Disposal. No open burning shall be done at sites used for disposal of community trash, garbage or other wastes, except when authorized for specific periods of time by the health department on the basis of justifiable circumstances reviewed and weighed in terms of pollution effects and other relevant considerations following written application. B.General Prohibitions. No person shall burn any trash, garbage or other wastes, nor shall they conduct any salvage operations, in any open fire except in conformity with the provisions of subsections C and D of this section.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 49).
Full Breakdown
72, the county's air pollution control ordinance, and opens with its own site-specific rule: subsection A bars open burning at any site used to dispose of community trash, garbage or other waste unless the health department authorizes it for a specific period after a written application, weighing pollution effects and other factors. Subsection B then states the general rule that governs everywhere else: no person may burn trash, garbage or other waste, or run a salvage operation, in an open fire except as subsections C and D allow.
Subsection C lists what is permissible without any permit at all, provided no public nuisance results, including devices used mainly to prepare food such as grills and fireplaces, campfires under the control of a responsible person, indoor fireplaces, industrial flares burning flammable gas, and burning combustible household waste on the premises of buildings of four units or fewer where no licensed disposal service is available. 030 as a campfire safely confined to a ring no larger than eight feet in diameter, needs a special permit, and bonfires, Christmas-tree burns and rally fires are barred outright even with a permit.
Subsection D adds a permit track for agricultural burning, forest slash from logging, burning within railroad and road rights-of-way, structure burns for firefighter training, and other special-purpose burning the health department approves case by case, with hours set by the health department. 030 as any fire whose combustion products go directly into the open air without passing through a stack or chimney, and 'public nuisance' is defined there as unlawfully doing something that annoys, injures or endangers three or more people.
Violations & Fines
Chapter 9.72 carries its own enforcement tools rather than relying only on the general penalty: section 9.72.040(B) lets the health department issue orders to enforce the chapter through administrative and judicial proceedings, and section 9.72.110 gives department representatives a right of entry to inspect for compliance, backed by a search warrant if consent is refused. Because Chapter 9.72 doesn't set its own fine schedule, a conviction defaults to the county's general penalty, section 1.12.010: an infraction under state statute unless another ordinance labels the violation a class B or C misdemeanor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is open burning allowed at all in unincorporated Salt Lake County?
Can I have a bonfire or burn my Christmas tree in the yard?
What can happen to me if I get caught doing illegal open burning?
Does the county ever authorize burning at a dump or disposal site?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Salt Lake County
How Salt Lake County compares: Cities with the Strictest Outdoor Burning Rules·Compare Salt Lake County to another location·View the Utah fire regulations overview
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