Fire Pits in Lexington: What the Rules Actually Say

The Fire Department answers this question directly in the FAQ on its open burn permit page. Asked whether a burn permit is needed for a grill or fire pit:

No, but ensure that these appliances are far away from any structures or wooded areas and that only wood or charcoal is burned. Burning trash is strictly prohibited. Fire pits must be small in size and do not include "bonfires." If a neighbor complains about excess smoke, the fire may have to be extinguished. Use common sense and never leave fires unattended.

That is the operative answer for a normal backyard fire pit. No permit, no application, no fee.

The nuance worth knowing

The ordinance text reads differently. Sec. 9-20(c) prohibits open burning except for nine listed purposes the fire chief may allow, and recreational fires are one of them, at Sec. 9-20(c)(2). Sec. 9-20(d) then requires a permit for the purposes listed in subsection (c), with two exceptions written into the text: cooking fires under (c)(1) and small cold-weather comfort fires set by workers under (c)(3). Read strictly, a recreational fire sits in the permit category.

The Fire Department's published guidance treats small fire pits and grills as permit-free anyway. In practice: a small fire pit or a grill needs no permit, while a bonfire or any brush or debris burning does.

Two rules stack here, and together they are short. The Fire Department's answer to whether trash can be burned is that only wood, brush, and charcoal may be burned in Fayette County.

The ordinance goes further on the prohibited side. Sec. 9-20(b) makes it unlawful to burn building rubbish, meaning waste from construction, remodeling, repair, or demolition, or household rubbish, meaning ordinary trash and garbage, for the purpose of disposing of it or for any other purpose. That prohibition is absolute. No permit can authorize it, and the section directs that both be disposed of through Chapter 16, the waste chapter.

Never burn

• Household trash and garbage.
• Construction and demolition debris.
• Anything that is not wood, brush, or charcoal.

For leaves and yard waste there is a better path than a burn permit. City collection takes yard waste in the gray cart and in paper yard waste bags. Collection days and what goes in which cart are on the Lexington trash pickup page.

For reference, Sec. 9-20(a) defines what counts as open burning in the first place:

Open burning means any fire wherein the production of combustion is emitted directly into the outdoor atmosphere and is not directed thereto through a stack or chimney, incinerator or similar device.

These numbers are Fire Department guidance, not ordinance.

Sec. 9-20 contains no size limit, no setback, and no mention of fire pits, chimineas, or any specific device. Every figure below comes from the Fire Department's "Fire Pits and Cooking Grills" guidance sheet, issued by the Division of Fire and Emergency Services.

• Placement. Choose a location with no overhead wires, trees, or combustible buildings or structures within 25 feet.
• Spark control. Use a spark arrester screen on top, like the fire pits sold at area stores, to minimize burning embers escaping.
• Store-bought pits. Retail fire pits are small and come with chimneys or spark arrester screens. The guidance says to always follow the manufacturer's directions for placement and use.
• Homemade pits. Size should be considered. A large pit creates a lot of fire and smoke and generates complaints from neighbors, and the guidance states plainly that those complaints are handled by fire companies coming to the home and extinguishing the fire.

The guidance also places fire pits in the category of recreational fires, which is the category Sec. 9-20(c)(2) uses.

A bonfire is not a fire pit. The Fire Department's permit answer says fire pits must be small in size and expressly do not include bonfires, which puts a bonfire back into the permit category under Sec. 9-20.

The guidance sheet supplies the size reference:

NFPA 1, the state adopted fire code, does address recreational fires in the form of bon fires and places a limit of these types of fires at three feet in diameter and two feet high.

Note what that limit is and is not. It is NFPA 1, the state adopted fire code, reaching recreational fires of the bonfire type, cited in city guidance. It is not a number written into Sec. 9-20. The guidance adds that even at that size, a large amount of fire and smoke can be created.

Burning natural growth for land clearing, or trees and limbs felled by storms, is one of the purposes Sec. 9-20(c) allows, and Sec. 9-20(d) requires an open burn permit for it. This applies everywhere in Fayette County. The Fire Department confirms that rural addresses are not exempt: all open burning within the county is regulated.

How the process works

• Apply through the city's open burn permit page. Applications must be submitted at least 20 days before the requested burn date, though the fire chief or a designee may waive that period.
• Submitting an application is not approval. The Fire Investigation Bureau contacts the applicant to set up a site inspection for a new permit. A firefighter inspects each location to decide whether the site is appropriate and what conditions to attach.
• Approval time: the city says LFUCG ordinances allow up to 20 days for approval, but that in most cases permits are issued in much less time, depending on the workload of the Fire Investigation Bureau.
• Renewal is a new application.

How long a permit lasts

The city's two sources disagree, so both are worth knowing. The FAQ on the open burn permit page says permits are good for 90 days maximum in most cases. The Open Burn Permit Regulations document linked from that same page says a permit may be granted for a period of up to thirty (30) calendar days. The duration printed on the issued permit is what governs, so check the permit itself.

Conditions that come with a permit

These come from the Open Burn Permit Regulations document, not from Sec. 9-20 itself:

• Burning is allowed only between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. During the state fire hazard seasons, the window for material within 150 feet of woodland or brushland shifts to 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
• No burning on a day when winds exceed 15 miles per hour or humidity is above 75 percent.
• The applicant or a qualified designated representative must be present at all times while the burn is conducted.
• A separate application is required for each burn location, and the fire chief or a designee may cancel a permit at any time.

Violating the terms of a permit draws a citation. The regulations add that a conviction under Sec. 9-20 blocks another permit for six months for a first violation in a five-year period, one year for a second, and two years for a third.

Permit questions go to Lexington Fire & Emergency Services Burn Permits, 219 E. Third St., (859) 231-5672, or burnpermitrequests@lexingtonky.gov. The application is on the city's open burn permit page.

Multi-family buildings are treated differently, and the rule is stricter than most residents expect. The Fire Department's guidance sheet quotes NFPA 1 (2012 edition), the state adopted fire code, Section 10.11.6.1:

For other than one and two family dwellings, no hibachi, gas-fired grill, charcoal grill, or other similar devices used for cooking, heating, or any other purpose, shall be used or kindled on any balcony or under any overhanging portion or within 10 ft (3 m) of any structure.

And Section 10.11.6.2 on storage:

For other than one and two family dwellings, no hibachi, grill, or other similar devices used for cooking shall be stored on a balcony.

Read together: at anything other than a one or two family dwelling, a grill of any fuel type may not be used on a balcony, under an overhang, or within 10 feet of the building, and may not be stored on the balcony either. The exclusion for one and two family dwellings is why a detached house is not caught by this.

Apartment and condominium rules can also be stricter than the fire code. A lease or an association covenant can ban grills and fire pits outright, and the city does not enforce those private agreements.

The code is silent. Sec. 9-20 says nothing about gas or propane devices, neither regulating them specifically nor exempting them, and the state rules do not carve them out either. No Lexington rule specifically addresses them.

National retailer pages sometimes claim gas fire pits are exempt from local burn rules. There is no basis for that in Lexington's primary sources. Silence is not an exemption.

What does apply is the Fire Department's general placement guidance, which is sensible for any fuel: away from structures, trees, and overhead wires, and never left unattended. At an apartment or condominium, the NFPA 1 balcony rule quoted above names gas-fired grills explicitly.

This is state law and it applies inside Lexington. Under KRS 149.400, subsection (1), two periods each year are declared fire hazard seasons:

• October 1 through December 15.
• February 15 through April 30.

During those seasons it is unlawful to set fire to, or procure another to set fire to, any flammable material capable of spreading fire that is located in or within one hundred fifty feet (150 feet) of any woodland or brushland, except between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., or when the ground is covered with snow.

The trigger is the 150-foot condition, not the calendar alone. A fire pit in an open yard away from woods or brush is not reached by this rule. One near a treeline is, and during the seasons it is limited to the evening and overnight window.

Penalties under KRS 149.991 run from $100 to $500, imprisonment for up to six months, or both.

One state rule that does not add anything here: the Kentucky open burning air regulation (401 KAR 63:005) allows fires set for recreational or ceremonial purposes and cooking fires, and Fayette County is not among the counties subject to its May through September ozone-season restrictions.

A countywide burn ban is initiated by the fire marshal and the fire chief of the Lexington Fire Department, under the authority in KRS 149.401, when drought or fire conditions warrant it.

A ban covers fire pits.

While a ban is in effect there is no open burning of any kind, including cooking fires and campfires, and burn permits already issued are suspended. It is not limited to brush burning.

Bans are announced through city news releases and local media when conditions warrant. There is no live status page to check, so the announcement is the notice. The most recent Fayette County burn bans came in the fall of 2022, in October and again that November. None has been issued since.

Smoke complaints are the most common way a legal fire becomes a problem. The Fire Department's own answer says that if a neighbor complains about excess smoke, the fire may have to be extinguished, and that fires should never be left unattended.

The guidance sheet is more specific about large homemade pits: a large fire pit creates a lot of fire and smoke and generates complaints from neighbors, and those complaints are handled by fire companies coming to the home and extinguishing the fire.

So the practical enforcement for a backyard fire is usually a fire company at the door rather than a citation. Keeping the fire small, screened, and clear of structures is what avoids it.

Sec. 9-20(f) sets the penalty for violating the open burning ordinance:

Any person in violation of the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) or imprisonment for a term not to exceed twelve (12) months, or both, for each act which shall be a separate offense.

The range is $100 to $500, up to twelve months, or both, and each act is a separate offense. State fire season violations under KRS 149.991 carry their own penalty of $100 to $500, up to six months, or both.

An unattended, spreading, or dangerous fire is 911.

That is the right call for a fire that is out of control, moving toward a structure or woods, or burning with nobody watching it. Do not wait on a non-emergency line for that.

For anything less urgent, the Lexington Fire Department non-emergency line is (859) 231-5600.

Burn permit questions go to Fire & Emergency Services Burn Permits, 219 E. Third St., (859) 231-5672, burnpermitrequests@lexingtonky.gov.