Santa Rosa, CA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Santa Rosa generally prohibits open burning under its adopted California Fire Code (City Code Ch. 18-44) and the Short-Term Rental Ordinance (ORD-2021-011), which states it is 'unlawful to burn or cause to be burned within the city any solid waste, recyclable materials, household hazardous wastes or other hazardous wastes, garbage, debris, or other wastes.' The only authorized open-burn category is vegetative pile burning under a Fire Department permit, established when City Council adopted the Pile Burning Ordinance on March 16, 2021 as a wildfire-fuel-reduction tool. Eligibility requires that 'the parcel must be 5 acres or more in size or approved by the Fire Department on a case-by-case basis.' Burns must be ≤ 4-foot piles, located at least 50 feet from any dwelling or other combustible material, with a 10-foot clearance above and around the pile. Permitted material is limited to clean vegetation (branches, trunks, stumps) from the permitted property only — solid waste, hazardous waste, garbage, debris, and other wastes are never burnable. Burn hours are 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and fires must be extinguished by sundown with no exceptions. A water supply and long-handled shovel must be on site. Permits also require Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) compliance and the burn day must be a declared 'permissive burn day.' The Santa Rosa Fire Department suspends all pile burn permits during declared wildfire season; for 2026, no new permits are being issued after June 1, 2026.