Murrieta, CA Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

1 to prohibit open burning anywhere within Murrieta's jurisdictional boundaries, with no general residential exception. 6, requiring outdoor fireplaces, fire pits, fire rings and similar exterior devices at Group R occupancies (homes and other residential buildings) to comply with the fire code, but it expressly excepts barbecues, grills and other portable devices intended solely for cooking, so a charcoal grill, smoker or portable barbecue used to prepare food is not swept into the fireplace/fire-pit standard. 170 requires Building and Fire Department approval and mandates the device burn only a gas flame, not wood or solid fuel; combustible construction and flammable vegetation must stay at least three feet away at one- and two-family homes and twenty feet away at other Group R occupancies, and any chimney or vent needs an approved spark arrester under California Mechanical Code Section 221.

190. Read together, these sections mean a resident can run a portable grill or smoker for cooking almost anywhere in the city without a fire code permit, but a wood-burning fire pit, chiminea or fireplace is either restricted to specific clearance and zone conditions or barred outright depending on fuel type and fire hazard zone.