Howard County, IN Outdoor Cooking: BBQ & Propane Rules (2026)

Howard County's temporary burn ban at § 92.02 prohibits open burning of any kind across the unincorporated county, but the same subsection carves out an exception for cooking equipment. Section 92.02(B)(1) states the countywide ban 'shall not apply to fires used for cooking or heating, such as barbeque grills, pits or fireplaces, so long as such fires are properly contained and monitored and the wood or charcoal used in such fires is not removed until thoroughly extinguished.' That is the entire rule: the code does not set a minimum distance from a structure, property line, or deck, and it does not distinguish a propane grill from a charcoal pit or wood-burning fireplace, so long as the fire meets the containment-and-monitoring standard.

The exception does not extend to burn barrels, which § 92.02(B)(2) bans outright at any residential, business, or commercial structure regardless of how they are contained, and it does not cover unattended fires, bonfires, or agricultural burning, all of which remain flatly prohibited under § 92.02(B)(1)'s main clause. Because this is an exception to a $2,500-per-day burn ban rather than a standalone grilling ordinance, a grill fire that is left unattended, that spreads coals onto vegetation, or that is not fully extinguished before the ash or charcoal is removed loses its exempt status and becomes a straightforward open-burning violation enforceable under the county's general penalty, § 10.99.