Bozeman, MT Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Section 18.01.010 of the Bozeman Municipal Code is the provision that reaches outdoor cooking fires. It authorizes the fire chief to issue a burn ban and to prohibit all fires and burning of combustibles, including but not limited to all open burning, fire pits, chimineas, charcoal grills and fireworks within the city limits. The section does not name smokers, so a charcoal-fueled smoker falls under the same reading as a charcoal grill only where it burns combustibles in the open flame sense the section describes; the printed list is what the fire chief can prohibit.

The fire chief has stated discretion over when a ban starts. In determining whether to implement one, the chief can consider current climate conditions including drought, the weather forecast and available fire resources. A ban issued under section 18.01.010 can take immediate effect without further implementing actions and remains in effect until the fire chief rescinds it, so there is no fixed end date and no advance notice period written into the section.

Outside a ban, the open burning article distinguishes cooking equipment from open fires. Section 18.04.040 defines a recreation fire as any fire not contained in an incinerator, outdoor fireplace, barbecue grill or pit, so a barbecue grill is not treated as a recreation fire, while a fire burned for ceremonial cooking or similar purposes is. Recreational fires need no permit from March 1 through November 30 if they stay within three feet in diameter and two feet in height, and section 18.04.080 bars setting any fire when wind or weather conditions make it hazardous. The city fire chief can also close or restrict open burning when necessary.

The Bozeman Fire Department administers the fire chief's authority, and section 18.02.010 adopts the International Fire Code as amended by the Montana Fire Prevention and Investigation Bureau, so the state-adopted fire code operates alongside these local sections.