Backyard Fire Pit Laws

Placement

• If a fire pit is legal in your area, your fire department will most likely discourage placing it on a deck or a porch or putting it too close to a building. The Brigantine Beach fire department in New Jersey, for example, recommends keeping fire pits at least 15 feet from a building and five feet from any combustible material. Fire departments also generally frown upon leaving an outdoor fire unattended.

Apartment Buildings

• Local regulations will generally forbid using fire pits at apartment buildings of three or more stories. Even if your local laws don't include such a restriction, ask yourself if it's really a good idea to have an open flame on your sixth-floor balcony, especially since half of all grill-related home fires begin on a balcony or unenclosed porch, accoring to firesafety.gov.

Burning Materials

• Burning trash and items that emit noxious odors is generally prohibited.

General Common Sense

• While laws probably won't cover certain safety considerations, it is probably a good idea to follow some of these common guidelines: Don't use your fire pit during high winds; put a non-combustible device under your fire pit to catch embers and hot ashes; don't use gasoline, kerosene or other starter fluids that might cause a rapid flare-up; and wait for all the ashes to cool before disposing of them, or else douse them with plenty of water first.