Littleton, CO Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Littleton regulates outdoor cooking equipment, smokers and grills through two overlapping chapters. Under the everyday open-burning rules of Section 5-3-5, fires used for noncommercial cooking of food for human beings are exempted outright from the city's burn-permit requirement, so a backyard grill or smoker does not need sign-off from the Tri-County District Health Department or the Fire Chief in ordinary conditions. That baseline changes once the City Manager declares Stage 1 fire restrictions or a Stage 2 fire ban under Chapter 5-4. Section 5-4-2 defines a liquid- or gas-fueled appliance as any device that burns liquid or gaseous fuel, can be shut off by a switch or mechanical means, and is designed for outdoor use to produce heat for cooking, warmth or similar purposes, expressly naming camp stoves, fire pits and grills.

Section 5-4-5 keeps propane, LP or natural gas fueled barbecue grills legal for cooking or warming food during a Stage 1 restriction provided they do not produce or emit sparks or embers when used, and extends the same protection to charcoal fueled grills and pits used for cooking. Section 5-4-6 carries both exceptions forward unchanged into the stricter Stage 2 fire ban. Fires contained within indoor liquid-fueled or gas stoves, fireplaces and wood-burning stoves inside habitable buildings remain unrestricted at every stage. A grill or smoker that throws sparks or embers loses its exemption and becomes an unlawful open fire for as long as the restriction or ban stays in effect.