Fire Regulations in Iowa (2026)

Des Moines requires a fire prevention bureau permit before any recreational backyard fire, unless it's a food-prep fire…

Davenport allows backyard recreational wood fires without a permit if kept under eight feet wide, four feet high, at…

Iowa City allows campfires, outdoor cooking fires and portable outdoor fireplaces without a burning permit, but only…

Sioux City lets residents use portable outdoor fireplaces, fire pits and chimineas without a permit, but only off…

Campfires and outdoor fireplaces in unincorporated Linn County are exempt from the open burning permit if they burn…

Iowa legalized consumer fireworks sales and use statewide in 2017, licensing sellers through the State Fire Marshal…

Iowa legalized consumer fireworks in 2017 under Iowa Code Chapter 727. Des Moines allows consumer fireworks June 1–July…

Iowa City Code Section 8-5-12 bans the use or explosion of consumer or display fireworks within city limits despite…

Iowa Code §727.2 (HF 540, 2017) legalized consumer fireworks but lets counties limit use to July 3, July 4, and…

Sioux City limits consumer fireworks discharge to your own property or with written consent, bans use entirely in…

Consumer fireworks are legal in Davenport only on July 3, July 4, and December 31 under Municipal Code 9.40.030. Any…

Iowa legalized consumer fireworks in 2017, but every Johnson County community sharply limits when you may set them off…

Iowa allows consumer fireworks. Legal use June 1-July 8 and Dec 10-Jan 3 under Iowa Code Chapter 727. Cities may impose…

Davenport sits on the Mississippi, not in wildfire country, so there are no defensible-space zones. Owners must keep…

Iowa DNR regulates open burning statewide under IAC 567 Chapter 23.2, prohibiting burning of trash, plastics, and…

Open burning of refuse, rubbish, garbage, and landscape waste is prohibited in Des Moines under Polk County Air Quality…

Iowa City bans open fires citywide under code section 6-6-1, with fire department permits available only for narrow…

Unincorporated Linn County bans open burning of combustible materials unless the fire type is listed and a permit is…

Sioux City requires a fire code official's permit before any open burning on the ground or in an unapproved container…

Davenport bans open burning of leaves, garbage, and yard waste. Only clean wood can be burned, and only on a day the…

Iowa's DNR bans open burning of combustible materials by default, allowing landscape waste only on the premises where…

The state fire marshal may prohibit open burning across any designated area of Iowa during extremely dry conditions…

Linn County's property maintenance code requires smoke alarms in every covered dwelling with no exceptions: the county…

Cedar Rapids requires single-station smoke alarms to run on building wiring with battery backup, but allows…

Des Moines requires listed smoke alarms meeting UL 268 in R-1, R-2, R-4 and I-1 occupancies, with dwelling-unit alarms…

Iowa City requires smoke detectors approved by the Fire Marshal in every dwelling unit and rooming unit, placed on each…

Homes built or altered in unincorporated Johnson County follow the smoke alarm rules of the adopted 2021 International…

Sioux City's Housing Maintenance Code requires a working smoke detector on every floor level of a dwelling unit…

Iowa Code Chapter 101 and the State Fire Marshal's LP-gas rules regulate propane storage, installation, and dispensing…

Iowa City's zoning performance standards flatly prohibit bulk storage of liquefied petroleum gas in every zone except…

Any LP-gas installation in Des Moines with 150 or more gallons of aggregate container capacity requires a fire…

Inside Sioux City's Fire Zones 1 and 2, its congested commercial core, no single liquefied petroleum gas installation…