Fire Rules · Safety guide · Reviewed July 14, 2026
Fire restrictions and campfires
A campfire is legal until it is not. Check the permit, the current restrictions, and the weather before you strike anything.
The short version
A permit does not mean a fire is allowed
A California Campfire Permit may be required, but the local order still controls. An order may allow a gas stove while banning wood or charcoal. Some places ban all open flame.
What changes the answer: Fire rules change by land manager, field office, weather, and the kind of flame or fuel.
A campfire permit is not a green light by itself. It is more like a key that only works when the place, season, weather, and current fire order also allow it.
Fire rules can change fast. A campground fire ring, stove, charcoal grill, lantern, spark arrester, or target-shooting plan can all be affected by the manager's current order.
The state campfire permit is free and needs to be available for an official to check. It does not replace the current forest order, park rule, local fire restriction, or posted sign.
Simple rule: before you light anything, check the exact land manager, the current fire restriction, the weather warning, and the sign where you are standing.
How it works
A permit and permission are two checks
The California Campfire Permit has no fee and must be ready for an official to inspect. It does not override a local fire restriction. When a permit applies, the permit and the current local rule both have to allow the activity.
On BLM land outside a developed campground, the 2026 statewide order adds three clear basics where a campfire is otherwise allowed: clear a five-foot-wide circle to bare soil with no burnable material overhead, keep a working round-point shovel at least 35 inches long close by, and carry the valid permit. Those safety terms run through 2030, but a field-office ban can still say no fire at all.
The land manager draws the boundary
A national forest, BLM field office, park, county, or campground can set its own fire order. Two nearby sites can have different rules. A fire ring may mark the place for a fire, but the current order still decides whether fires are allowed today.
The rule follows the heat source
Fire orders may treat wood, charcoal, gas stoves, lanterns, smoking, fireworks, target shooting, and motor tools in different ways. An order that allows a shutoff-valve stove does not also allow charcoal. A stove allowance in one order does not clear every place.
A red-flag warning and a fire order do different jobs
A National Weather Service red-flag warning means critical fire weather is happening or may start soon. The warning describes the weather. The land manager's order says which activities are allowed.
Some BLM orders ban campfires or target shooting during a red-flag warning. Other places use their own limits or closures. The weather alert and the local order both matter before anything is lit.
First moves
- 1
Get the right permit if the activity needs one, then check whether fires are allowed today.
- 2
Check the exact manager: State Parks, national forest, BLM, national park, county, city, or private campground.
- 3
Look for current fire restrictions, red-flag warnings, campground notices, and posted signs.
- 4
Know whether the rule covers wood fires, charcoal, gas stoves, lanterns, smoking, fireworks, target shooting, generators, and vehicles off road.
- 5
Put fires fully out, keep water and a shovel handy where required, and skip the fire when wind or dry grass makes you uneasy.
Watch for
- 1
Fireworks are not a public-land shortcut. They are banned in many outdoor places and can start fires quickly.
- 2
Rules can be stricter inside a forest, park, campground, county, city, HOA, or utility area than a statewide summary suggests.
- 3
Red-flag weather, wind, low humidity, lightning, smoke, or nearby incidents can change the answer by the hour.
- 4
A stove may be allowed when a wood fire is not, but only the current local order can answer that for the exact place.
- 5
A residential or debris burn permit is a different path from a recreational campfire permit. Start with CAL FIRE or the local air and fire authorities for that kind of burn.
Official sources
Where to confirm this
Use the source that matches the part you need. Current forms, fees, deadlines, maps, and local decisions can change after this guide is reviewed.
Fire rules change by land manager, order, date, weather, county, campsite, stove type, fuel type, and emergency closure. A permit does not override a local restriction or posted sign.