Fire Regulations in Illinois (2026)

Chicago's code makes it unlawful to burn wood, paper, leaves, or any combustible material in open fires or metal…

Aurora requires a fire code operational permit for every open fire, including small backyard recreational fires: the…

Cicero treats any bonfire, on public ground or a private lot, as illegal without a written permit from the fire marshal…

New residential construction in the Village of Oak Park cannot include a directly piped exterior gas fire pit or gas…

Arlington Heights amends the 2018 International Fire Code to define a bonfire as any outdoor fire with a fuel area over…

Bolingbrook allows recreational fires in a portable outdoor fireplace only if it uses a screen and lid or a chimney…

Champaign allows backyard campfires only in a metal container or masonry-lined pit no larger than 20 square feet, kept…

Champaign County allows a recreational campfire, cooking fire or fireplace burn within the 1,000-foot buffer around…

Backyard recreational fires are permitted in Des Plaines so long as no garbage or yard waste is burned and any device…

DuPage County permits recreational fires in unincorporated areas only if they use clean, seasoned firewood, are…

Elgin bans open burning of trash, wood, leaves and construction debris outright, but carves out an exception for fire…

Evanston allows in-ground, grade-level, and portable fire pits for wood fires if they sit at least 10 feet from a…

Joliet allows a backyard fire in a proper fire pit but sets hard clearances: Sec. 8-288(d) requires a bonfire to stay…

A backyard recreational fire in unincorporated Kane County must burn only brush, be no larger than 3'x3'x3', stay 20…

Recreational fires up to 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet are allowed in unincorporated Lake County without a burn permit…

Oak Lawn caps recreational backyard fires at 4 hours, bans them in front yards, and requires fire pits to sit at least…

In the City of Peoria you need a $10 recreational burn permit before lighting a backyard fire, and the pit must sit at…

Rockford allows small recreational fires in a noncombustible container, but only within tight size, hour, fuel, and…

Schaumburg's fire code locally amends Section 307 to size and place fire pits precisely: permanent pits max out at 36…

Skokie allows outdoor fireplaces and fire pits as an exception to its open-burning ban, but only if the unit is raised…

Springfield treats backyard fire pits as recreational fires under Chapter 94 of the city code (which adopts the…

St. Clair County enforces the 2012 International Fire Code. Recreational fire pits must stay at least 25 feet from any…

Waukegan lets residents run outdoor fireplaces and fire pits without a burning permit under City Code Sec. 15-26(b)…

In unincorporated Will County, recreation fires used for cooking or entertainment cannot exceed six feet by six feet…

Winnebago County allows outdoor fireplaces and fire pits as accessory features but requires them to sit at least 6 feet…

Cook County bans open burning countywide (except Chicago), but exempts legitimate campfire, recreational, and cooling…

Open burning is banned across unincorporated Kankakee County except for specific listed activities, and a legitimate…

A backyard fire pit in unincorporated McHenry County qualifies as a 'recreational fire' under the county's Open Burning…

Recreational campfires and cooking fires are allowed in unincorporated Sangamon County without a burn permit, but…

Illinois generally prohibits consumer fireworks statewide under the Pyrotechnic Use Act, allowing only novelty items…

Aurora bans selling, possessing or using display fireworks, flame effects and consumer fireworks citywide, with fines…

Champaign bans possessing, storing, selling or exploding any fireworks citywide unless the Fire Chief has issued a…

Illinois strictly limits consumer fireworks, and the rule holds across Champaign County. Only sparklers, snakes, and…

Possessing, using, or selling fireworks is banned citywide except for permitted public displays; violators face civil…

The Town of Cicero bans possessing, storing, selling or using any fireworks within town limits. Violations carry a…

Cook County bans possessing, selling, or using fireworks countywide, with violations fined $250 per day; only permitted…

Consumer and display fireworks are illegal to possess, sell, or discharge in Des Plaines under the Illinois Pyrotechnic…

Evanston bans possessing, making, storing, selling, and using fireworks or explosives anywhere in the city, unless the…

Joliet Code Sec. 21-15 bans possessing, selling or using consumer fireworks anywhere in the city, and bars selling…

Selling, possessing, or using any fireworks, including consumer fireworks, in unincorporated Lake County is illegal…

Madison County bans the sale, possession, use or explosion of fireworks anywhere in the unincorporated county unless…

Naperville bans selling, storing, possessing, or discharging fireworks citywide, allowing pyrotechnic displays only…

Oak Lawn bans possessing, selling, or discharging fireworks anywhere in the Village except at a licensed fireworks…

Illinois strictly limits consumer fireworks, and that holds across Peoria County. Only sparklers, snakes, and novelties…

Rock Island County bans retail sale, possession, and use of fireworks in the unincorporated county unless the County…

Schaumburg bans possessing, selling, igniting, discharging or displaying any fireworks defined under the Illinois…

Skokie bars anyone from possessing or discharging fireworks anywhere in the Village and from selling or giving…

Illinois's Pyrotechnic Use Act (425 ILCS 35/2) makes it unlawful to possess, sell, use, or explode consumer or display…

Tazewell County's Chapter 130 use-of-county-property ordinance bans fireworks, firecrackers and rockets at the County…

Tinley Park bans selling, displaying, storing, using, possessing, manufacturing or exploding fireworks anywhere in the…

Waukegan bans the sale, offer for sale, possession for sale, use, or explosion of fireworks citywide under City Code §…

Possessing, igniting, or discharging display or consumer fireworks in unincorporated Will County without a county…

Elgin bans possessing, selling, or using any fireworks, from professional 1.3G displays to consumer fireworks, without…

Kane County bans private and consumer fireworks use, including sparklers, in the unincorporated county unless conducted…

In unincorporated Macon County, selling, possessing for sale, or using fireworks is unlawful except under a permit the…

McLean County bans any display of consumer or display fireworks in the unincorporated county without a permit. Both…

Fireworks are banned in unincorporated Sangamon County outside every city and village unless the county has issued a…

Public fireworks displays in Kankakee County require a county permit and must be run by a licensed lead pyrotechnic…

Illinois bans consumer fireworks statewide. In McHenry County you may not possess, sell, use, or explode firecrackers…

Illinois bans consumer fireworks statewide. Firecrackers, bottle rockets, Roman candles, and aerial shells are illegal…

Kane County lets residents burn brush and landscape waste generated on their own property, but only from 10 a.m. to 3…

Illinois EPA regulations restrict open burning statewide, prohibiting the burning of garbage, landscape waste in many…

Arlington Heights, Illinois (Cook County) declares the burning of leaves, solid waste, or the maintenance of any…

Champaign bans burning garbage, organic refuse, grass, brush, and leaves outdoors at any time, citywide, with no…

Chicago bans burning paper, wood, garbage, leaves, construction debris, or other combustible material in open fires or…

Open burning of garbage, refuse, and landscape waste is prohibited in Des Plaines. The city sits in Cook County, where…

Naperville outlaws burning leaves, branches or similar yard foliage anywhere within the city under Municipal Code…

Rock Island County bans burning refuse anywhere in the unincorporated area except the one narrow case the code allows…

In the City of Springfield, open burning of yard waste, garbage, and construction materials is prohibited. Only…

Waukegan bans open burning of leaves, brush, tree trimmings, paper, garbage and other combustible material anywhere in…

Aurora bans burning combustible material, leaves, brush, debris, trash, in open fires citywide, regardless of which of…

Cicero fines any open burning violation $250.00 to $750.00 under Town Code Sec. 42-34, enacted alongside the town's…

Cook County bans open burning countywide (except Chicago) under Sec. 30-385, unless the burn fits a narrow exception…

Elgin bans burning paper, wood, garbage, leaves, construction debris and demolition material in open fires or metal…

Joliet prohibits burning yard waste and other waste material outdoors entirely, and separately bans any open burning…

Open burning of garbage in unincorporated Kendall County is banned outright, and burning leather, rubber, plastic…

Lake County treats open burning of landscape waste in unincorporated areas as a public nuisance, allowing only narrow…

Unincorporated McHenry County limits open burning to landscape waste and brush, on weekends between dawn and dusk in…

Open or outdoor burning of rubbish and refuse is banned village-wide in Oak Lawn except in an approved incinerator…

The Village of Oak Park bans open fires outright: no one may burn leaves or other refuse outdoors. Cooking fires at…

Peoria bans open burning citywide unless the fire marshal has approved it under the Peoria Fire Department Open Burning…

Peoria County adopted the 2018 International Fire Code and, in Section 12-26(p), specifically deleted the code's…

Rockford prohibits open burning citywide unless it's a small, supervised cooking fire in a noncombustible container…

Sangamon County bans open burning across the unincorporated county outright, permitting it only for narrowly defined…

Schaumburg bans open burning without prior approval under its 2021 International Fire Code amendments at § 157.02…

The Village of Skokie bans burning paper, cardboard, leaves, twigs, branches, wood, grass clippings, landscape waste or…

Unincorporated Tazewell County bans open burning of organic and inorganic refuse outright under County Code § 91.16…

Tinley Park bans open burning of garbage or other discarded solid materials as a declared nuisance under § 98.02(J)…

Winnebago County bans open burning of most materials, allowing only farm burns, state-permitted burns, campfires, and…

Illinois bans burning refuse, and that applies everywhere in Champaign County. Landscape waste like leaves may be…

Kane County regulates open burning by ZIP code. In many unincorporated ZIP codes, burning "Landscape Waste" (grass…

Open burning is banned across unincorporated Kankakee County unless it fits a listed exemption. Agricultural, domicile…

Unincorporated Macon County bans burning refuse except at a state-permitted or licensed incineration facility, but §…

Illinois EPA rules allow burning landscape waste (leaves, branches, brush) only on the premises where it is produced…

Will County bars burning waste materials without a state or Illinois EPA permit, requires all outdoor fires to sit at…

Aurora's Electrical Code confirms smoke alarms are required in new dwelling units and requires their branch circuit to…

Champaign requires smoke alarms in every dwelling in Groups R-2, R-3, R-4 and non-Group-R dwellings, placed outside…

Chicago requires smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside sleeping areas, on every dwelling story, and at the top…

Cicero requires at least one approved, working smoke detector in every residential unit and living level, plus one at…

Under the Cook County Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance, a rental unit isn't legally habitable unless it has…

DuPage County's Building Code requires smoke detectors in every bedroom, outside sleeping areas, in furnace rooms and…

Elgin's Fire Prevention Code sets a 20-foot minimum separation between a smoke alarm and a permanently installed…

Evanston requires working smoke alarms in every dwelling unit's sleeping areas, each bedroom, every story, and above…

Joliet's Property Maintenance Code requires smoke alarms in every Group I-1 and R occupancy under IPMC § 704.2 and the…

Kane County requires smoke alarms in new and altered one- and two-family homes under the 2021 International Residential…

In unincorporated Kankakee County, Code Sec. 105-186(13) adopts the Illinois Smoke Detector Act, 425 ILCS 60, as one of…

Unincorporated Lake County enforces smoke detector requirements through the 2024 ICC International Residential and Fire…

New buildings wired under Macon County's Electrical Code must install smoke detectors to § 907.2.10 of the 2012…

Illinois law requires a working smoke detector within 15 feet of every sleeping room and on every story of a home…

Naperville's residential code amendment requires code-compliant smoke alarms in any area affected by a renovation or…

Oak Lawn requires smoke and carbon monoxide detectors under the 2018 International Fire Code as locally amended, and…

Oak Park requires every licensed accessory use tour house, a historic home opened for paid public tours, to install…

Peoria requires every registered rental dwelling to have working smoke detectors as a life-safety condition checked…

Peoria County's only codified smoke detector mandate covers licensed bed and breakfast establishments: every guest room…

Rockford requires a smoke detector in every bed and breakfast sleeping room, in the adjoining hallway, and on each…

Rental and home daycare properties in Schaumburg must install smoke alarms on every level, in every bedroom, and within…

Skokie's amended building code requires smoke detectors under the state Smoke Detector Act in Group R-1 occupancies and…

The Illinois Smoke Detector Act (425 ILCS 60/3) requires every Springfield dwelling unit to have at least one approved…

Every dwelling in unincorporated St. Clair County must have hard-wired, battery-backup smoke detectors that are…

Section 96.09 requires every dwelling unit to have a working smoke detector within 15 feet of every bedroom, plus one…

Tinley Park's electrical code requires dual-voltage, battery-backup smoke detectors wired in series on every level and…

Waukegan's Life Safety Code amendments require every licensed family or group day-care home inside a one- or two-family…

Renovations, repairs and reconstruction of single-family homes, duplexes and townhouses in unincorporated Will County…

Winnebago County requires every rooming house unit to have a working smoke detector near the sleeping area, plus a…

Illinois regulates the storage, handling, and transport of liquefied petroleum gas statewide under the LPG Act…

Tinley Park's Fire Prevention Code flatly prohibits bulk storage of liquefied petroleum gas, defined as more than 1,000…

Aurora bans bulk liquefied petroleum gas storage everywhere in the city except the M-2 manufacturing district, and even…

Chicago bans storing or using LP-gas inside most buildings and covered outdoor areas, including large apartment…

McLean County's zoning code bans individual fuel oil or propane gas tanks for each manufactured home in a manufactured…

Naperville restricts storage of liquefied petroleum gas of any quantity citywide, requiring a special permit from the…

Cicero bars keeping LP-gas containers and first-stage regulators inside buildings, with narrow exceptions for small…

Elgin enforces the 2021 International Fire Code's LP-gas rules through Fire Prevention Code § 16.28.030, and has…

Peoria regulates LP-gas cylinder storage through its amended fire code at City Code § 11-92(l): containers awaiting…

Every mobile home park in unincorporated Rock Island County must install and maintain LPG and fuel-oil systems to state…

Springfield doesn't cap how much propane a resident can store, but Sec. 94.65 does require physical protection for…

St. Clair County follows the International Fire Code and Illinois LP Gas rules for propane. For homes, small grill…

Section 96.08(EE) of the county's Human Habitation chapter bars piping liquid-form propane through buildings, bans…

Waukegan caps permanent bulk liquefied petroleum gas storage at 200 gallons citywide and requires a Fire Prevention…