Outdoor burning rules in St. Joseph County, IN — also called the burn ban, open burning, or fire restriction ordinance — set when you can burn yard waste, debris, or run a recreational fire.
Open burning of trash is banned throughout St. Joseph County under IDEM rule 326 IAC 4-1; only clean-wood recreational fires and limited vegetative burning are exempt, in one pile under 1,000 cubic feet, kept attended.
Indiana bans open burning of household trash statewide, and IDEM's rule 326 IAC 4-1 governs unincorporated St. Joseph County and its cities. Burning garbage, plastic, tires, or construction debris is never allowed. Narrow exemptions cover recreational or ceremonial fires and, in some areas, burning clean vegetative yard waste, but only one pile of 1,000 cubic feet or less at a time, kept 500 feet from fuel storage and attended until out. South Bend and Mishawaka restrict or ban open burning more tightly within city limits, so an urban resident often may burn nothing but a small clean-wood fire.
Illegal open burning violates 326 IAC 4-1 and can trigger IDEM civil penalties, cleanup liability, and a local fire-department citation for creating a fire hazard.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
St. Joseph County, IN
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