San Angelo, TX Outdoor Cooking: BBQ & Propane Rules (2026)

03. 001 first draws the line that keeps a barbecue out of the permit system altogether: open burning means burning where combustion products go straight into the air without passing through a stack or chimney, and the definition specifically excludes grills used for cooking, along with recreational fires and portable outdoor fireplaces. That means a resident firing up a charcoal or gas grill on a patio is not conducting regulated open burning and does not need a burn permit for it. 003 then addresses fuel choice directly: propane is the fuel the city recommends as a controlled method for outdoor cooking, though charcoal and wood-burning cooking remain permitted alongside it.

The ordinance does not ban charcoal or wood grills; it simply flags propane as the preferred, more controllable option, which matters in a West Texas city where wind-driven embers are a standing wildfire concern. Where the rules turn strict is ground-level fires. 005 prohibits ground fires outright and treats them as open burning, so a cooking fire built directly on bare or exposed ground rather than in a grill, barbecue pit, or contained fire pit loses the cooking exemption and becomes an illegal open burn.

004 separately bans burning construction materials, plastics, treated lumber, and similar debris in any outdoor fire, cooking or otherwise, citing the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's general open-burning rule. 009, which caps fire-safety fines at $2,000 per offense rather than the standard $500 ceiling.