Smyrna, TN Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Open burning inside the Town of Smyrna, Tennessee, requires a permit from the Smyrna Fire Department unless the fire falls under an exemption. Title 7, Chapter 5 was rewritten by Ord. No. 26-24 on 6-9-2026. Section 7-502 sorts permits into three categories: land clearing/development burning, residential yard waste burning, and recreational fires. A permit for destroying cut and stacked or raked leaves, grass and other natural vegetation from yard clean-up is issued at no charge. To get one, the applicant contacts the Fire Department, which can attach conditions on burn location, materials, time restrictions, weather considerations and required safety equipment (§ 7-503).

Residential yard waste burning under § 7-505.2 needs a property of at least three (3) acres, a burn area at least fifty (50) feet from any structure or combustible material and at least one hundred (100) feet from an adjacent property containing a residence or occupied structure, and burns only leaves and tree limbs originating from the property. Land clearing under § 7-505.1 is stricter: a minimum of twenty (20) acres, burning no less than five hundred (500) feet from any property line, structure or roadway, on-site vegetation only, inside a pit with an air curtain destructor or approved incinerator as the Fire Department requires, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and dusk.

Every permitted fire needs constant attendance, and a garden hose and water supply or other extinguishing equipment must be on hand (§ 7-505). The permit holder answers for damages, injuries or claims from the burn. Under § 7-504 the Fire Chief or a designee can forbid, restrict or suspend any burning, or cancel a permit, when weather or other conditions are unfavorable or hazardous, whatever the permit period says. Unless the Fire Department approves otherwise, permitted burning happens only between 8:00 a.m. and dusk, and any fire must go out immediately on the Fire Department's order (§ 7-509). Section 7-507 bans burning garbage, trash, rubbish, construction debris, household waste, treated wood, plastics, rubber and asphalt products. Permits must be available for inspection while the burn is in progress (§ 7-502).