Tustin, CA Outdoor Cooking: Smoker Rules (2026)

Tustin City Code § 8104 locally amends the 2025 California Fire Code's hazardous-conditions and outdoor-fireplace sections. Section 305.6 bars any outdoor fire burning wood or other solid fuel whenever predicted sustained winds exceed 8 mph and relative humidity drops below 25%, whenever a red flag condition has been declared, or whenever the fire code official posts an official sign or makes a public announcement restricting burning; no outdoor fire of any fuel type, gas or solid, is allowed once predicted sustained winds exceed 20 mph or when the fire code official otherwise determines the fire is a hazard.

A charcoal or wood-pellet smoker in a backyard is a solid-fuel outdoor fire for purposes of this rule and is subject to the same wind and humidity shutoff. Separately, Section 307.6 of the amendment, which sets clearance and approval standards for fire pits and outdoor fireplaces at residential occupancies, expressly carves cooking equipment out of that section: barbeques, grills and other portable devices intended solely for cooking are not required to meet the fire pit's Building Department approval, gas-only-flame, or setback conditions. That means a smoker or grill used for cooking does not need the setback clearances or approval that apply to a decorative gas or wood fire pit, but the operator still must comply with the general open-burning and hazardous-conditions restrictions in Section 305 that OCFA enforces on any red-flag or high-wind day, and rubbish or waste material may only be burned in an approved incinerator per Section 305.7.