Vacaville, CA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Section 15.20.271.040(H) adds Section 307.1.2 to Chapter 3 of the California Fire Code, 2025 Edition, as adopted by the city: "No person may ignite, make, kindle, permit, or maintain a fire, including incinerators, open burning, and recreational fires, within the city limits, including within public parks or playgrounds." That is a blanket prohibition, not a permit-to-burn process, and it applies on both private and public land.

The ordinance carves out a short, specific list of exceptions rather than a general burn-permit program. Commercial orchard operators may burn tree trimmings from orchards larger than one acre, but only with a Fire Chief permit and proof of a permit from the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District. The Fire Chief can also authorize fires in the performance of official duties, covering agricultural disease and pest control (again requiring a Yolo-Solano AQMD permit), wildlife habitat improvement work, Fire Department training exercises, and other special situations the Fire Chief approves case by case. Contained equipment fires such as barbecues and approved outdoor fire pits are handled under a separate exception rather than as a general open-burning allowance.

Enforcement sits with the Fire Chief, who administers the Fire Code under Section 15.20.270.030. An illegal fire can also be treated as a fire hazard subject to immediate abatement under the Wildland-Urban Interface Code amendments, letting the Fire Chief extinguish it, confiscate the source, or close the property, with abatement costs chargeable to the owner as a nuisance lien if unpaid.