Merced, CA Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

A backyard smoker is a cooking appliance subject to the California Fire Code that the City of Merced adopts at Merced Municipal Code Chapter 17.32 (the 'Fire Prevention Code'), enforced by the City of Merced Fire Department. A commercially produced charcoal, pellet, or propane smoker used as an open-flame cooking device must be operated safely away from combustible construction - under CFC Section 308.1.4, charcoal burners and other open-flame cooking devices shall not be operated within 10 feet of combustible construction or on combustible balconies (with limited exceptions for one- and two-family dwellings). Using small amounts of cooking wood or wood chips for flavor inside a manufactured smoker is normal barbecue practice, but building a loose open wood fire on the ground is not a permitted cooking method and crosses into prohibited open-burning territory. Propane-fired smokers follow the same CFC Chapter 61 LP-gas rules - a standard 20-pound cylinder outdoors needs no permit. Smoke from a smoker must not become a public nuisance; excessive or sustained wood smoke drifting onto neighbors can be addressed under the City's nuisance provisions, and San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District rules bar open burning of waste and may restrict wood burning on no-burn days. Keep smokers clear of structures, fences, and combustibles and attended while in use.