Outdoor burning rules in Adams County, CO — 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 piles, slash, or trash requires a permit from your fire district and is restricted by state air-quality rules. In the Denver metro (including Adams County) burning is prohibited each winter, and all open burning stops during Sheriff fire restrictions.
Open burning—burning brush piles, slash, ditches, or trash—requires a written permit from the local Fire Chief and often a CDPHE air-quality open-burn permit. The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission prohibits open burning in the seven-county Denver/Boulder metro area (which includes Adams County) from November 1 through March 31. During Stage 1 restrictions no open burning is allowed, and during Stage 2 even previously issued burn permits are suspended. Contained trash burning, when permitted, must use a fireproof, screened container in a cleared 10-foot-diameter area. Charcoal and propane grills at private residences are exempt.
Burning without a required permit or in violation of a fire ban is unlawful and can bring county citations, CDPHE air-quality penalties, and liability for escaped fire.
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See how Adams County's outdoor burning rules stack up against other locations.
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