California Fire Pit Codes, Permits and Clearances

Statewide Rules

California's fire code is Title 24, Part 9: the 2025 California Fire Code (CFC), a fully integrated adaptation of the 2024 International Fire Code. The California Building Standards Commission publishes the California Building Standards Code (Title 24) on a triennial cycle, and the State Fire Marshal adopts the fire provisions for the occupancies it regulates.

The 2025 California Building Standards Code was published July 1, 2025, with an effective date of January 1, 2026.

Section 307 and Who Enforces It

The rule behind the headline number is Section 307: open burning, recreational fires and portable outdoor fireplaces. It is printed in the 2025 CFC, word for word the 2024 International Fire Code text. It is also not on the State Fire Marshal's list of Chapter 3 sections that the state adopts.

The State Fire Marshal adopts Chapter 3 sections 301, 302, 304, 308.1.1, 308.5, 310.2, 310.3, 312 to 316, 317, 319 to 322 and 323. Section 307 is not on the list.

The code itself says what that means. Matrix tables are an aid, and chapters the state did not adopt can be adopted by a city or county.

Matrix tables "may aid the code user" but "are not to be considered regulatory," and chapters marked as not adopted by the state "may be available for adoption by local ordinance."

In practice, cities adopt the full CFC plus the International Fire Code provisions the state left out. San Diego does exactly that, and Los Angeles adopts Section 307 in its entirety with changes of its own. The 25 ft figure below is therefore a model-code distance, printed in the CFC and enforced where your city or county adopts Section 307.

Recreational fires shall not be conducted within 25 feet (7620 mm) of a structure or combustible material.

Portable outdoor fireplaces must be used per the manufacturer's instructions and not operated within 15 ft of a structure or combustible material. Portable outdoor fireplaces used at one- and two-family dwellings are excepted. The code defines a portable outdoor fireplace as solid-fuel-burning.

Both distances are wood-fire rules, and both are measured to a structure or combustible material. Neither is measured to a property line.

Open burning is prohibited when atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make such fires hazardous. Fires must be constantly attended until extinguished, with a 4-A extinguisher or other approved means such as dirt, sand, a water barrel or a garden hose on hand.

Local Amendments

A city or county can be stricter than the state, but it has to say why.

The city, county or city and county shall make express findings for each amendment, addition or deletion based upon climatic, topographical or geological conditions.

State Air Law

State air law leaves backyard fires alone. Health and Safety Code section 41800 bars open outdoor fires for disposing of waste, and section 41806(b) says that article does not prohibit open outdoor fires used only for cooking or recreation. Regional air districts add their own wood-burning rules. The South Coast rule is under Los Angeles below.

Nothing in the article prohibits "Open outdoor fires used only for cooking food for human beings or for recreational purposes."

Gas Appliance Listing

A permanently installed gas fire feature is held to a different test than a wood fire. The California Mechanical Code requires listing and installation to the manufacturer's instructions, and it marks the rule as an extract of NFPA 54.

Permanently fixed-in-place outdoor open flame decorative appliances are installed per §931.1.1 and §931.1.2. Section 931.1.1 requires listing to ANSI Z21.97/CSA 2.41 and installation per the manufacturer's installation instructions. The CMC marks both sections as extracts of NFPA 54 §10.30 and §10.30.1.

The 2025 edition of Title 24 also adds Part 7, the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code. We have not reviewed it for fire pit provisions, so read it if you build in a wildfire area.

City and County Examples

City of Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Fire Code is Chapter V, Article 7 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC).

The Los Angeles Fire Code adopts by reference portions of the 2022 California Fire Code (CFC) and the 2021 International Fire Code (IFC).

That is how the code reads as posted by American Legal (2026 Rev. 9). American Legal notes a lag of up to three months, and the city may have adopted the 2025 CFC since, so confirm which edition you are held to.

Section 307 of the CFC is hereby adopted in its entirety with the following exceptions, modifications, and additions.

Exterior fireplaces, barbecue devices and other fuel-burning devices for cooking or entertainment are not restricted by the special-permit rule in §57.307.6. Using them to burn waste is prohibited.

The rule that matters for a built-in fire feature is the next one.

The location of every permanently installed outdoor burning device which is a separate structure to be used for cooking, decoration or entertainment, and within 10 feet of a building shall be approved by the Chief.

Los Angeles is in the South Coast Air Basin, which has its own wood-burning rule.

No person may operate an indoor or outdoor wood-burning device, a portable outdoor wood-burning device or a wood-fired cooking device on a declared No-Burn day during the wood-burning season, November through February, in areas below 3,000 ft elevation. Fireplaces, burn bowls and chimineas on residentially zoned property count as portable outdoor wood-burning devices.

No permanently installed wood-burning device is allowed in any new development. Permanently installed devices that are sold or installed must be an EPA-certified wood heater, a pellet heater, a masonry heater or a dedicated gaseous-fueled fireplace.

City of San Diego

San Diego adopts the 2025 CFC together with the International Fire Code provisions the state left out, then amends Section 307.

The San Diego Fire Code adopts the 2025 CFC together with those portions of the 2024 Edition of the International Fire Code not included in the California Building Standards Code.

Portable outdoor fireplaces need a spark arrestor, and the 15 ft rule applies. One- and two-family dwellings outside a Wildland-Urban Interface Area are excepted when the fireplace is used per the manufacturer's instructions. Inside a Wildland-Urban Interface Area the exception holds only when the fireplace is at least 15 ft from a structure, combustible material or vegetation.

Open burning, including recreational fires and fires within portable outdoor fireplaces, shall not be permitted when a Red-Flag Warning or a Fire Weather Watch condition has been issued by the National Weather Service, except for fires in beach areas complying with San Diego Municipal Code section 63.20.5.

Whether you are inside a Wildland-Urban Interface Area decides which exception you get.

A Wildland-Urban Interface Area is a state-identified Fire Hazard Severity Zone (Public Resources Code §§4201 to 4204, Government Code §§51175 to 51189) plus areas the Fire-Rescue Department designates.

Getting a Permit

What is required varies by city, county, fire protection district and air district. This is what the sources above support.

Section 105.5.36 sets the operational permit for open burning. Its exception is recreational fires.

• Wood recreational fire. No operational permit where that exception is in force. San Diego adopts the CFC in full except where it amends. Before you light it, check for a Red Flag Warning in San Diego and for a No-Burn day in the South Coast AQMD area.
• Built-in outdoor burning device in Los Angeles. If it sits within 10 ft of a building, the Fire Chief approves its location (LAMC §57.307.6.2). The rule covers devices used for decoration, so it is the one to check for a built-in gas fire feature near the house.
• Gas fire feature. It has to be listed to ANSI Z21.97 and installed per the manual (California Mechanical Code §931.1.1). Gas piping and appliance connection permits are issued locally. We did not pull a statewide permit citation for gas piping, so ask your city or county building department what applies.

What This Means for Your Build

Start with the fuel, because it decides which rules apply.

Wood. Plan on the CFC's 25 ft between the fire and any structure or combustible material wherever your city has adopted Section 307, which includes Los Angeles and San Diego. That distance runs to the structure, not your property line, and the CFC prints no property-line distance, so any rule that protects your neighbor is local. A portable outdoor fireplace has a 15 ft rule with an exception for one- and two-family homes, and San Diego narrows that exception in wildfire areas. The air rules can stop you before the fire code does: a No-Burn day under Rule 445 in the Los Angeles area, or a Red Flag Warning in San Diego.

Gas. The distance that applies is the one in your unit's installation manual, and a permanent unit has to be listed to ANSI Z21.97/CSA 2.41. Run your feature type and fuel through the clearance checker for the published manufacturer minimums, then read your own manual, which controls.

Built in, near the house. In Los Angeles, a permanent device within 10 ft of a building needs the Fire Chief's sign-off on its location before you build.

Gas lines and connections are permitted locally. Use a licensed installer, and ask your building department which permit covers your project. Your city, county, fire protection district and air district can each add to what is on this page, and the local fire official's reading governs.