Yakima County, WA Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

1 of the 2018 International Fire Code, the provision governing open burning countywide in unincorporated Yakima County. The base rule lets the fire code official, the Fire Marshal's Office within the Building and Fire Safety Division of the Department of Public Services, prohibit open burning whenever atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make fires hazardous, including declaring a general burn ban. Two exceptions carve out activity the county does not treat as prohibited open burning. The first covers prescribed burning to reduce wildland fire impact when the fire code official has authorized it.

The second, the one that reaches backyard smokers and grills, exempts the use of listed outdoor cooking appliances operated in accordance with the manufacturer's operating instructions and the provisions of Section 308 of the fire code; an outdoor smoker or barbecue that is listed and run as the manufacturer specifies is not an open burning violation even while a burn ban is in effect for other open fires. 030, with authority to inspect properties annually or as often as necessary to check for conditions that could cause or spread fire.

Because the exception is tied to compliance with manufacturer instructions, a smoker or grill run outside those instructions, for example fueled or vented in a way the maker does not specify, loses the exemption and is treated as ordinary open burning subject to whatever ban is in effect.