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Salt Lake County, UT Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

Significant Restrictions
Compiled from the official code textEditor Martyn O'NeillLast verified September 2026

Key Facts

Open flame/firework buffer
300 feet
Covers
Foothills & Canyons Overlay Zone
Penalty
Class B misdemeanor
Explosives buffer
50 feet

Summary

Open flames, unenclosed smoking, and fireworks are banned within 300 feet of Salt Lake County's designated wildland-urban interface areas to cut wildfire risk.

City-specific rules exist: Sandy, and Salt Lake City have their own wildfire zones rules that differ from Salt Lake County's county-level regulations. If you live in one of those cities, check the city-specific page instead.

The following restrictions on open flames and smoking are imposed on, over and within 300 feet of all wildland-suburban interface areas:1.Setting, building, maintaining, attending or using open flames of any kind is prohibited, except campfires built within the facilities provided for them in improved campgrounds, picnic areas or permanently improved places of habitation; and2.Smoking is prohibited, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site or while stopped in the center of an area of at least ten feet in diameter that is barren or cleared to mineral soil or is covered by concrete or asphalt.B.The following restrictions on fireworks, tracer ammunition or other pyrotechnic devices are imposed:1.Discharging or using any kind of aerial device firework, tracer ammunition or other pyrotechnic devices on, over or within three hundred feet of any wildland-suburban interface area is prohibited; and2.Discharging or using any kind of class C common state-approved explosives on, over or within fifty feet of any wildland-suburban interface area is prohibited.C.The following definitions are applicable to this section:1."Class C common state-approved explosives" is as defined in section 53-7-202(5), Utah Code Annotated, as amended.2."Aerial device firework" is as defined in sections R710-2-2(2.2) and R710-2-6(6.3.1), Utah Administrative Rules, as amended. (Ord. No. 1768, § I, 6-3-2014)

View official code

Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 49).

Full Breakdown

Chapter 9.90 bars setting, building or using open flames -- except campfires in facilities built for them in improved campgrounds or picnic areas -- and bars smoking outside enclosed vehicles/buildings, within 300 feet of wildland-suburban interface areas: the Foothills and Canyons Overlay Zone, Forestry Zones, and Foothill Agriculture Zone. Aerial fireworks and pyrotechnics are banned within 300 feet, and Class C explosives within 50 feet.

Violations & Fines

Open flames, unauthorized smoking, or discharging fireworks/pyrotechnics within the interface buffer violates Section 9.90.030 and is a Class B misdemeanor under Section 9.90.050, plus civil penalties under Chapter 19.94.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I smoke while hiking in Salt Lake County's foothills?
Only inside an enclosed vehicle/building, at a developed recreation site, or on a 10-foot cleared/paved spot -- open smoking is banned under Section 9.90.030(A)(2).
Are campfires allowed in the wildland-urban interface?
Only inside facilities built for them in improved campgrounds or picnic areas; other open flames are prohibited under Section 9.90.030(A)(1).

Sources & Official References

Other rules in Salt Lake County

All Salt Lake County rules

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