Chapel Hill, NC Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

Unlike California's CAL FIRE FHSZ system or Colorado's wildfire risk maps, North Carolina does not publish a state-mandated Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) hazard zone map for use in local fire-code amendments. The North Carolina Fire Prevention Code (2018 edition based on the 2018 IFC with NC amendments) is the uniform statewide minimum standard, administered locally by the Chapel Hill Fire Department under Chapter 7 Article II of the Chapel Hill Code of Ordinances. The state's principal active wildfire-prevention tool is the NC Forest Service permit program under NCGS Chapter 113, which requires a burn permit for open burning within 100 feet of any forest, brushland, or grassland (with exemptions for municipalities that have adopted local controls - inside Chapel Hill town limits Orange County's official position is that burning yard debris and leaves is illegal regardless of any NCFS permit). The NC Forest Service and the NC Agriculture Commissioner are authorized to issue statewide or county-level burn bans during hazardous fire-weather conditions; on March 20, 2025 NCDA&CS issued a statewide burn ban for all 100 counties. Chapel Hill Fire Department wildfire-prevention guidance for residents focuses on the in-town NC Fire Code rules - especially the recreational-fire setback (25 ft from any structure under Sec. 307.4.2) and the portable outdoor fireplace setback (15 ft under Sec. 307.4.3) - plus statewide grilling rules under NC Fire Code Sec. 308.1.4 (grills must be at least 10 ft from combustibles for occupancies other than 1- and 2-family dwellings and townhouses, and propane-grill ash containers must be metal and kept 10 ft from combustibles). On UNC-Chapel Hill property the UNC Fire Marshal (UNC Environment, Health and Safety) administers a stricter campus policy that prohibits all open flame without a permit. Chapel Hill is bordered by the Duke Forest and several Piedmont woodland tracts; wildfire risk is moderate but not at the level requiring state-mandated defensible-space rules.