Prince George's County, MD Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Sec. 11-270 of the Fire Prevention Code targets carbon monoxide and fire risk from charcoal cooking equipment used in enclosed spaces rather than in the open air. The Section flatly prohibits the use or storage of charcoal fire stoves or cooking appliances, language that covers charcoal smokers, hibachis, and similar charcoal-burning cookers, inside buildings, trailers, and other confined areas. -listed or other nationally recognized approved system that vents gaseous combustion products directly to the outside, meaning a certified ducted hood or flue rather than an open window or a running fan.

Without that certified venting, a garage, enclosed porch, shed, camper, or other confined structure is off-limits for charcoal smoking equipment regardless of how briefly it runs. The prohibition sits alongside Sec. 11-269's separate thirty-foot balcony setback for multifamily buildings and Sec. 11-268's conditions for outdoor open burning and recreational fires, so a resident moving a smoker from the yard into a garage during bad weather does not get relief from the fire code, they trade one set of restrictions for a flat indoor ban. The Section was carried forward, along with neighboring Sections 11-268 and 11-269, in the CB-020-2025 update to Subtitle 11's cooking-equipment provisions.