Ankeny, IA Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Ankeny adopted the 2024 International Fire Code as the Ankeny Fire Code under Chapter 180, and Section 180.14 amends IFC Section 308.1.4.1 to add the city's own open-flame cooking rule. Charcoal burners, other devices that produce ashes or embers, and any other open-flame cooking device are barred from operation on a combustible balcony or deck, and from operating within 20 feet (3048 mm) of combustible construction generally. The rule targets multi-family and mixed-use buildings where a grill fire on a wood balcony can spread to neighboring units; it does not reach detached one- and two-family houses built to the International Residential Code, which are carved out as Exception 1.

Exception 2 also clears LP-gas cooking devices, such as a standard propane grill, whose LP container holds no more than 20 pounds of water capacity, no matter the building type. Any LP container used for outdoor cooking must still be located in compliance with IFC Section 6104, which governs LP-gas storage and handling. The Ankeny Fire Department, acting through the Fire Code Official, enforces this section alongside the rest of Chapter 180; the Fire Code's own violation-penalty clause, Section 113.4 (city Section 180.12), makes any violation of the adopted Fire Code subject to penalty as prescribed by law, and the city's Chapter 4 municipal infraction schedule sets that penalty at up to $750 for a first offense and up to $1,000 for each repeat offense, with each day a violation continues counted as a separate repeat offense.