Fire Regulations in North Carolina (2026)

Durham bans burning leaves, brush, trash, or any other refuse anywhere within city limits as an amendment to the…

Open pit fires of any kind are banned in Kill Devil Hills. The only outdoor fire pit allowed is a stationary gas fire…

Shelby requires a Fire Marshal's Office inspection and permit before any recreational fire, including campfires, fire…

Apex bans backyard campfires unless kept at least 25 feet from any structure and property line, capped at four square…

Recreational fires like a backyard fire pit must stay at least 25 feet from any structure or combustible material in…

Camp fires, cookouts, and other backyard recreational fires in Cary require a Town burning permit and must be confined…

Cleveland County's fire code, at Section 11-45, lets residents in the unincorporated county build a backyard fire pit…

Concord allows open cooking, heating, religious, and ceremonial fires only inside a contained campfire pit or a…

Campfires and small recreational cooking or warmth fires are legal statewide as long as they burn only clean wood…

Recreational fires must be confined to a container such as a fire pit or chiminea, kept no larger than 3 feet high and…

Small backyard recreational fires for cooking, warmth, or pleasure are allowed in Guilford County without a burn…

Outside High Point's fire limits, grass, weeds, trash, or rubbish may only be burned in a wire-mesh enclosure, or under…

Recreational fire pits allowed for heating/cooking only, limited to 3 feet height and 2 feet diameter. Must be 25 feet…

Backyard recreational fires in Wake County are governed by NC Fire Prevention Code §307.4.2 (adopted by Wake County…

Winston-Salem exempts outdoor cooking and recreational fires from its bonfire permit requirement only if they're…

Gastonia bans open burning citywide but exempts small fires in a barbecue pit, exterior fireplace, cookout device or…

Camp fires and other recreational fires are allowed on private property in unincorporated Onslow County without a…

Pitt County lets homeowners burn leaves, branches, and yard trimmings from their own property without a county permit…

In unincorporated Union County, the Unified Development Ordinance lets barbeque pits and outdoor fireplaces stand…

North Carolina prohibits all aerial and explosive fireworks statewide, allowing only permissible ground-based…

Consumer fireworks are illegal statewide under GS §14-410 and in Charlotte. Firecrackers, skyrockets, roman candles…

Concord bans possessing, storing, selling, or discharging any fireworks within city limits under City Code Sec. 34-2…

Cornelius follows NC state law strictly limiting consumer fireworks. Only ground-based sparkling devices such as…

Cumberland County bans manufacturing, selling, possessing, storing or using pyrotechnic devices for anyone in the…

North Carolina bans possessing, selling, or discharging pyrotechnics anywhere in the state, including unincorporated…

North Carolina bans nearly all consumer fireworks statewide. In Guilford County, only non-aerial, non-explosive…

Fireworks are restricted in High Point under North Carolina state law and city ordinance. Only certain consumer…

Only ground-based sparkling devices (sparklers, fountains, snakes) are legal in Huntersville under NC law. All aerial…

Matthews follows NCGS 14-410 restricting consumer fireworks to ground-based sparkling devices only. Sparklers…

North Carolina bans nearly all consumer fireworks under N.C.G.S. §14-410 et seq. Only ground-based and hand-held…

Pitt County bans fireworks outright on every outdoor site the Cultural Arts & Recreation Department manages, Alice F…

Consumer aerial fireworks including firecrackers, bottle rockets, Roman candles, mortars, and aerial repeater cakes are…

Shelby bans firing any pyrotechnics within city limits unless you hold a fire department permit, closing off consumer…

NC state law (NCGS Ch. 14 Article 54) restricts consumer fireworks to sparklers, fountains, and novelty items that do…

North Carolina law prohibits most aerial and explosive fireworks. Only ground-based and handheld consumer fireworks…

Only ground-based sparkling devices (sparklers, fountains, snakes, smoke items) are legal in Winston-Salem under NCGS…

Apex prohibits firing or discharging fireworks anywhere in town without a permit from the town council, treating it as…

Brunswick County requires a state-licensed operator and a county fire permit before any public fireworks, blasting, or…

The Town of Cary treats unpermitted fireworks as a noise-code violation: firing squibs, firecrackers, gunpowder or…

Craven County bans fireworks of any type in every public recreation area and at both county boat landings, allowing…

Durham's city charter lets the city council regulate or prevent firing fireworks, firearms, and other explosives…

Anyone who wants to shoot off fireworks for a public display in unincorporated Lincoln County needs a permit from the…

In unincorporated Moore County, exploding fireworks without a written county permit is declared a disturbing noise…

Rose Hill bans discharging fireworks, firecrackers, cannon crackers, and even bow-and-arrow or cap-gun type devices…

In unincorporated Rowan County, no one is allowed to ignite fireworks for a public display without approval from the…

Asheville's noise code excepts lawfully permitted fireworks displays tied to federal holidays outright, but caps…

North Carolina bans nearly all consumer fireworks statewide. Only non-aerial, non-explosive novelties, sparklers…

Cleveland County lets residents use only the low-grade 'safe and sane' fireworks state law allows, those with no more…

North Carolina allows consumer fireworks that do not leave the ground or explode. Bottle rockets, firecrackers, and…

North Carolina bans most consumer fireworks countywide. Only non-aerial, non-explosive novelties (wire sparklers…

Greensboro requires a Fireworks/Pyro/Special Effects Event permit from the fire prevention bureau before any organized…

In unincorporated Wayne County, any planned event of 500 or more people that includes the use, sale or display of…

Harnett County's Explosives Detonation Ordinance bans open detonations within 1,500 feet of schools, churches, or homes…

Kill Devil Hills' town code doesn't ban or license fireworks on its own; the only mention is in the noise ordinance…

Fayetteville has no defensible-space or vegetation-clearance program and no numeric grass-height limit. Overgrowth and…

Forsyth County bars piling fast-burning pine straw or similar landscape cover within ten feet of a dwelling that has…

Guilford County sets no mandatory defensible-space brush-clearance rule like fire-prone Western states. Land-clearing…

Winston-Salem requires property owners to keep lots clear of accumulated brush, dead vegetation, and combustible debris…

North Carolina regulates open burning statewide through Department of Environmental Quality air rules and Forest…

Alamance County's Solid Waste Management Ordinance flatly bans open burning of solid waste or garbage, tying the…

Catawba County prohibits open burning of solid waste or garbage entirely under County Code Section 32-6(h). No person…

Davidson County makes it unlawful to openly burn solid waste anywhere in the unincorporated county. Section 50.03(P)…

Forsyth County Code Sec. 19-10(b) strictly prohibits open burning of solid waste or recovered material anywhere in the…

Gaston County's solid waste ordinance flatly bans burning trash in the open air. Sec. 7-3(n) prohibits open burning of…

Gastonia bans burning any material outdoors anywhere within the city limits. Only city employees on duty, small cooking…

Burning leaves, brush, trash, or any other refuse anywhere inside Greensboro's corporate limits is outright prohibited…

Open burning in unincorporated Guilford County is limited to leaves and yard vegetation, burned only between 8:00 AM…

Iredell County bans burning as a disposal method: no one may dispose of solid waste, construction materials or unwanted…

Johnston County Code § 20-37(11) prohibits open burning of solid waste, citing the state air quality rule 15A NCAC…

Kill Devil Hills flatly prohibits burning construction debris, yard waste, grass, brush, leaves, and tree limbs, and…

Raleigh's solid waste code flatly bans burning trash, recycling, or yard waste outdoors anywhere in the city, on…

Rowan County bans open burning of solid waste outright. Code Section 19-28(n) makes it unlawful to burn garbage, refuse…

Outdoor open burning in Wake County is regulated by the NC Department of Environmental Quality (15A NCAC 02D.1903) and…

Apex bans all open burning and outdoor burning within town limits unless specifically permitted by ordinance, covering…

Asheville makes open burning a mandatory-permit activity under its Fire Prevention Code amendments, not an optional…

In unincorporated Brunswick County, North Carolina, all open burning is prohibited unless it fits a narrow list of…

The Town of Cary prohibits open burning of refuse or combustible material anywhere in town limits unless a Town of Cary…

Charlotte bans setting any fire, including bonfires and campfires, on public streets, highways, city property or…

Cleveland County adopts the North Carolina Fire Prevention Code's open-burning standard under § 11-45: no one may…

Concord bans all open burning within city limits under City Code Sec. 34-4(b), covering any fire whose smoke escapes…

Open burning in unincorporated Durham County requires a fire marshal's permit under Code Sec. 16-13, and no permit…

Harnett County's solid waste chapter bars open burning of solid waste outright, allowing it only to whatever narrow…

High Point bans burning trash, leaves, or litter outside any house within the fire limits outright. Outside the fire…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, any outdoor open burning within 100 feet of a structure requires a permit under Code…

Onslow County bans all open burning in the unincorporated county unless it falls into a specific exception under Code…

Rockingham County's solid waste ordinance makes it unlawful to burn trash or other solid waste on any property unless…

Shelby prohibits burning trash, leaves, and refuse anywhere in the city without a permit; recreational fires like…

It is unlawful to build, kindle, or maintain any fire, or to burn leaves, brush, trash, or similar refuse anywhere in…

Winston-Salem requires a permit before kindling or maintaining any bonfire or rubbish fire on private or public ground…

Residents may burn leaves, brush, and yard trimmings from their own property on approved burn days between 8 a.m. and 6…

Open burning of yard waste is banned wherever curbside pickup exists, which includes Fayetteville. Elsewhere, state…

New Hanover County bans starting fires, brush pile burning and other debris burning during declared hazardous forest…

Burning vegetation in unincorporated Orange County needs a NC Forest Service permit and must follow NC DEQ air rules…

Pitt County requires a permit before anyone kindles a grass, field, woods, or wind row fire, per Section 17 of the…

Union County outlaws setting or kindling any fire on county-owned or leased property unless a permit expressly allows…

North Carolina vests statewide wildfire response and burn ban authority in the Commissioner of Agriculture and the…

While Charlotte sits outside the highest-risk wildfire zones, several outer neighborhoods near the Catawba River, Latta…

Durham sits in the Piedmont region with generally low wildfire risk. North Carolina leads the nation in wildland-urban…

North Carolina maps no fire hazard severity zones and adopts no statewide wildland-urban interface code, and…

Huntersville is not located in a designated wildfire hazard zone. The Piedmont region of NC has moderate wildfire risk…

Matthews is not located in a designated NC wildfire hazard zone. The Piedmont suburban setting has low wildland-urban…

Charlotte follows the North Carolina State Building Code, which requires hardwired, interconnected smoke alarms with…

Cornelius follows the NC State Residential Code requiring working smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside sleeping…

Durham enforces NC Residential Code Section R314.3 requiring smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside each sleeping…

NC State Building Code requires working smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside sleeping areas and on every level…

Winston-Salem enforces the NC State Building Code and NC Residential Code, which require working smoke alarms in every…

Every dwelling in Asheville must have a working smoke detector on each level under Sec. 4-210(1)(b), plus units in…

Every rental dwelling in unincorporated Buncombe County needs a UL-listed (or equivalent) smoke detector on each level…

Every occupied dwelling or dwelling unit in the Town of Cary must have at least one operable smoke detector outside the…

Every dwelling unit in unincorporated Cleveland County must have an approved, listed smoke detector installed by the…

Concord's minimum housing code requires a hardwired 120-volt smoke detector on every habitable floor level and in the…

North Carolina law requires every landlord in Cumberland County to provide an operable, UL-listed smoke alarm in each…

North Carolina requires working smoke alarms in every home. Landlords must provide operable, UL-listed alarms at the…

Forsyth County's Minimum Housing Standards require a working smoke detector on every floor level of a dwelling…

Gaston County's minimum housing code requires automatic smoke detection systems in any residential unit the housing…

Gastonia's minimum housing code requires a smoke alarm outside every sleeping area, inside every bedroom, and on every…

North Carolina requires operable smoke alarms in every rental dwelling, and the state building code requires them in…

High Point's Minimum Housing Code requires an approved, listed smoke detector within 15 feet of every bedroom in a…

Every rental residential unit in Kill Devil Hills, including hotel and motel units, must have an operational automatic…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, County Code § 95.082 requires every landlord to keep rental property in a fit…

Smoke alarms in Raleigh dwellings are required under the North Carolina State Building Code and NC Fire Code, with…

Rockingham County's minimum housing code requires a smoke detector on every floor level and outside each sleeping area…

Rowan County's fire code addresses smoke and carbon monoxide detectors only for rental housing: County Code Section…

Smoke alarms in Wake County dwellings follow the NC Residential Code §R314 and the NC Fire Code §907. Homes built or…

In unincorporated Wayne County, Sec. 14-155(c)(4) requires every home lacking smoke detectors to have an approved smoke…

North Carolina regulates propane storage statewide under G.S. Chapter 119, Article 5. The Board of Agriculture adopts a…

Cumberland County has no separate propane-storage ordinance; LP-gas is governed by the North Carolina Fire Prevention…

Propane cylinders must be stored outdoors and upright in Guilford County, never indoors, in a crawl space, or near…

High Point restricts bulk storage of liquefied petroleum gas to areas not prohibited by the zoning ordinance or by the…

Raleigh regulates liquid propane (LP) gas tanks from 40-pound cylinders up to 2,000-gallon containers under City Code §…

Pitt County's Building Codes Enforcement Ordinance does not regulate residential propane storage: Section 9 expressly…