Worcester County, MD Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Subtitle V of Title PS1, added 6-19-2001 by Bill No. 01-7, is cited as the Worcester County Open Burning Regulations. Section PS 1-502(a) sets the baseline: a person may not cause or permit open burning except as provided in the Subtitle. Open burning means any fire where any material is burned in the open or in a receptacle other than a closed furnace, incinerator or other equipment connected to a stack or chimney. Two officials hold the discretion. The Control Officer is the Environmental Programs Administrator of the Department of Development, Review and Permitting, and the Fire Marshal is the Worcester County Fire Marshal or an authorized deputy.

Under § PS 1-502(b), a person cannot knowingly burn when, in the sole discretion and judgement of either official, air stagnation exists, a national or state ambient air quality standard may be violated, the burn causes unreasonable interference with a person's health, safety, comfort or use or enjoyment of real property, the burn creates a nuisance, or the burn lacks a required permit. Subsection (c) requires supervision by sufficient, adequately equipped and trained personnel until the fire is completely extinguished.

Permits come from the Department under § PS 1-503. The applicant submits a site plan with measured distances. Burns cannot be within five hundred yards of any occupied building or public road, or in or next to any area where housing density is one housing unit per acre or greater. Tires, waste oil and oil heavier than Number 2 fuel oil cannot start a fire, notice must go to Emergency Services, and the officials can require a cash bond for the nearest fire company's standby. Fire is extinguished immediately upon notification, at the burner's expense. Section PS 1-504 exempts items such as householder leaf burning at least two hundred feet from neighboring dwellings, recreational campfires of unpainted or untreated wood, and warming fires for outdoor workers.