Aurora, IL Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Smokers — including wood-burning offset smokers, pellet smokers (such as those using wood pellets fed by an electric auger), charcoal smokers, and ceramic kamado-style cookers — produce open flame, hot embers, or pellet combustion. The Aurora Fire Department, applying International Fire Code Section 308.1.4 as adopted in Chapter 31 of the City Code, treats these devices the same as charcoal and propane grills: prohibited on combustible balconies and within 10 feet of combustible construction at multifamily occupancies. The Fire Prevention Bureau's published guidance lists wood and pellet grills, and smokers that use a fuel source other than only electricity, among the prohibited open-flame cooking devices on multifamily balconies and decks. Electric-only smokers (no combustion, only electric heating element) are permitted on multifamily balconies. At single-family detached homes, smokers are permitted under the IFC exception for one- and two-family dwellings, subject to: (1) Chapter 22 (Property Maintenance) nuisance provisions if smoke, ash, or odor unreasonably affects adjoining property; (2) Illinois Environmental Protection Act (415 ILCS 5/) provisions if particulate emissions affect air quality; and (3) common-law nuisance principles enforceable in Kane, DuPage, Will, or Kendall County Circuit Court. The Aurora Fire Department open-burning rules apply only to recreational fires and yard waste, not to lawful cooking devices — smokers used for food preparation are not classified as open burning under Illinois EPA rules.