Jefferson County, KY Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

Jefferson County/Louisville Metro is a predominantly urban-suburban jurisdiction in the Ohio River Valley and is not included in the Kentucky Division of Forestry's high-risk wildfire counties (which focus on eastern Appalachian and southern Kentucky). Louisville Metro has not adopted a Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) overlay, defensible space mandate, or Class A roofing requirement, and the 2018 Kentucky Building Code (based on 2018 I-Codes) does not trigger WUI construction requirements here. The dominant brush-fire risk is seasonal leaf and field burning governed by KRS 149.400 (Forest Fire Hazard Seasons), which prohibits open burning within 150 feet of any woodland or brushland between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. from October 1 to December 15 and February 15 to April 30; violations are a Class B misdemeanor. LMCO Chapter 97 (Fire Prevention) and the Kentucky Fire Prevention Code (2018 IFC as adopted in 815 KAR 10:060) regulate open burning, requiring permits from Louisville Fire or the applicable suburban fire district for recreational fires over 3 feet in diameter and prohibiting burning of trash, leaves, or construction debris within Louisville Metro. Tornado and severe-weather risk, not wildfire, drives most emergency planning under Louisville Metro Emergency Services. Property owners adjacent to Jefferson Memorial Forest (the largest municipal urban forest in the US) should coordinate with the Metro Parks fire contact for prescribed burn notifications.