Florida burn bans › Burning rules

Florida outdoor burning rules

Even when no burn ban is in effect, outdoor burning in Florida is regulated. A burn ban is an additional restriction layered on top of the rules that always apply.

Before you burn anything

• Check your county's current burn ban status. Find your county — status is refreshed daily.
• Call your county fire marshal or sheriff's office. Orders can change faster than any statewide dataset updates, and the county is the authority on its own order.
• Check whether you need a permit or authorisation for the type of burn you are planning, separately from any ban.
• Check the weather. Wind is the single biggest factor in an escaped fire.

What a burn ban adds

Where a ban is issued as a local emergency order, violating it is a second-degree misdemeanor under §252.50, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a fine of up to $500. Burning without a Florida Forest Service authorization is separately a second-degree misdemeanor under §590.125(2)(d), and you can be billed for the cost of putting the fire out.

Exceptions

• Attended cooking on a gas or charcoal grill, or in a contained cooking device, is exempt under most county orders.
• Burns authorized by the Florida Forest Service — agricultural, silvicultural, prescribed and land-clearing burns — are generally exempt, because FFS authorisation is a separate statewide system.
• Consumer fireworks and sparklers are often added to the prohibition rather than exempted from it. Several counties ban fireworks alongside burning.

If your fire escapes

Beyond any criminal penalty, you can be held liable for the cost of suppressing a fire you started and for damage to other people's property. That liability does not depend on whether a burn ban was in place.