Redlands, CA Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Using a backyard smoker -- offset, pellet, kamado, electric, or propane -- is a permitted residential activity in Redlands, and the City has no smoker-specific ordinance. Smokers are treated like other outdoor cooking appliances under the 2022 California Fire Code, adopted in City Code Section 15.20.010. For single-family homes, place the smoker on a noncombustible surface, keep it well clear of the house, fences, eaves, and dry vegetation, never operate it indoors or in a garage, and keep extinguishing means nearby. Because wood and charcoal smokers burn solid fuel, they should not be operated on South Coast AQMD No-Burn days, when burning solid fuel is prohibited basin-wide under Rule 445 (gas and electric smokers are unaffected). Note that South Coast AQMD's open-burning prohibition (Rule 444) targets open burning of waste, not legitimate cooking, so normal smoker use for food preparation is allowed outside of No-Burn days. In apartments and condominiums, California Fire Code Section 308 restricts charcoal and open-flame cooking devices on combustible balconies and near combustible construction, so smokers are generally limited to ground-level patios at sprinklered buildings or detached single-family yards. Foothill residents in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone should be especially careful with solid-fuel smokers during fire season and keep a 10-foot clearance of vegetation around the unit.