Yucaipa, CA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)

Chapter 8.48 of the Yucaipa Municipal Code, adopted by Ordinance 475 in 2025, is titled Prohibition on Open Fires. The Yucaipa City Council found that uncontrolled outdoor fires threaten life, property and the environment and that open burning adds to wildfire risk, diminished air quality and burdens on the fire and police departments. An open fire is any fire where products of combustion are emitted directly to the atmosphere and not through an approved chimney, stack or appliance.

Section 8.48.030 has three rules for the City of Yucaipa. No one can ignite, kindle or maintain an open fire in any public place, public right-of-way, vacant lot, hillside, canyon or undeveloped property. No one can burn rubbish, waste, construction debris, yard clippings or other prohibited materials at any location within the city. And no one can operate a portable outdoor fireplace or recreational fire during a Red Flag Warning, Fire Weather Watch or No-Burn Day. A No-Burn Day is a day designated by the South Coast Air Quality Management District on which open burning is prohibited; a Red Flag Warning or Fire Weather Watch is an alert from the National Weather Service about critical fire weather conditions.

Section 8.48.040 carves out cooking devices, approved portable outdoor fireplaces, recreational fires expressly permitted by the Fire Department, fires set under a written permit from the fire chief or designee for public safety training, cultural or religious ceremonies, film production or other approved activities, and fires set by public agencies in firefighting, rescue or training. Separately, § 8.28.260 bars burning refuse except in an approved incinerator or other device covered by a permit, and the city's fire code amendment in § 15.04.075 requires a permit from the fire code official for outdoor fires in hazardous fire areas.

Under § 8.48.060, the fire department, sheriff's department or code enforcement can immediately extinguish a prohibited fire and temporarily seize equipment used in violation when necessary to abate an imminent threat to public safety.