Bucks County, PA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

12 opens with a blanket command, No person shall, followed by six numbered prohibitions covering fire in Bucks County parks. Subsection (A) bars setting or causing a fire to any tree, woodland, brush, grassland or meadow, the core open-burning prohibition. Subsection (B) separately bars setting fire to any other material, item or property within the Park System that is not intended for burning. The only path around the ban is Subsection (C)(3): fires in open spaces may be allowed, but only with the Director's written approval in advance and only in the area the Director designates for that purpose; the county-owned fireplaces, metal grills and approved public fire rings covered by Subsection (C)(1), and camp stoves in designated camping areas under Subsection (C)(2), are the only other lawful ways to build a fire.

Subsection (D) separately bars dropping, dumping, throwing or scattering lighted matches, ashes, burning cigars, cigarettes, tobacco paper or other flammable material anywhere in the Park System, and Subsection (E) bars leaving any fire unattended or not fully extinguished before it is abandoned. Section 11 layers Pennsylvania's own fire statutes and regulations on top of these park-specific rules, and Section 13 gives Park Police authority to enforce all of it. A violation is a summary offense under Section 12(A), carrying a fine up to $600 plus restitution and up to 10 days in jail, or the Department can issue a $25-to-$100 county ordinance ticket instead under Section 12(B), and the Director can expel the violator from the Park System for six months to two years.