Lubbock, TX Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

002(9) as part of the city's 2021 International Fire Code adoption, treat contained cooking fires differently from open bonfires. 1 reads: "A bonfire shall not be conducted within 300 feet (91 440 mm), or greater distance as determined by the fire code official, of a structure or combustible material, unless the fire is contained in a barbecue pit. " Because a backyard smoker, grill or barbecue pit is, by definition, a contained fire rather than an open bonfire, it falls outside the 300-foot bonfire setback entirely; the fire code official retains authority to require a "greater distance" for an uncontained bonfire, but that discretion attaches to bonfires, not to a smoker or grill running inside its own pit or firebox.

4 separately caps permanent outdoor firepits at a 10-foot setback. So the fire code effectively splits outdoor flame three ways: open burning and bonfires (300 feet unless contained), permanent recreational firepits (10 feet), and contained cooking equipment like a barbecue pit or smoker, which is carved out of the bonfire distance rule altogether. 006(11)(D), but a residential backyard smoker used for personal cooking is governed by this open-burning article.