Arizona Burn Permit: Do You Need One and When
Arizona runs no statewide burn permit. The state code makes open outdoor fire unlawful unless something excepts it, then hands permitting to the county air quality department, so a Maricopa County reader applies through the county portal and waits for an inspector, checks whether today is a No Burn Day, and knows that from May 1 through September 30 the Phoenix area is closed to open fire outright.
Do you need a burn permit in Arizona?
Yes, and the state issues it
Arizona requires a state burning permit, and the dates that close burning, May 1 to Sep 30, apply in named counties rather than statewide.
- Who issues it
- your county air quality department or control officer, not a single state office
- Issued by
- the county air quality department, or the city, town or fire district the state has delegated it to. In Maricopa County an inspector comes out and looks at the burn site before the permit issues
Notwithstanding section 49-107, if the department assumes jurisdiction over open burning in a county pursuant to section 49-402, the director may delegate authority for the issuance of open burning permits to a county, city, town or fire district.Arizona Revised Statutes 49-501, Unlawful open burning, Arizona State Legislature, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Where you get one
- Your county air quality department
- An online county permit portal where the county runs one
- A site inspection before the permit is issued
When you may burn in Arizona
Arizona is one of the states where a pair of dates on its own gives the wrong answer. What follows is the rule in the agency's own words, with the shape of the season named above it.
Some counties only
In the Phoenix area, which the statutes call area A, open outdoor fires are unlawful from May 1 through September 30 every year. The rest of Arizona has no statutory season and is governed by its county instead.
- Who sets it
- Arizona State Legislature
- Checked against
- Arizona Revised Statutes 49-501, Unlawful open burning, Arizona State Legislature
From May 1 through September 30 each year, it is unlawful for any person to ignite, cause to be ignited, permit to be ignited or suffer, allow or maintain any open outdoor fire in area A as defined in section 49-541.Arizona Revised Statutes 49-501, Unlawful open burning, Arizona State Legislature, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
In the Phoenix area, which the statutes call area A, open outdoor fires are unlawful from May 1 through September 30 every year. The rest of Arizona has no statutory season and is governed by its county instead.
What you may and may not burn in Arizona
What the state names as burnable
- clean, dry wood in a fireplace, woodstove or chimenea when burn restrictions are not in effect
- gaseous fuels, including gas logs
- a small wood or gas fire for cooking, smoking or flavoring food for immediate eating
- orchard heaters for frost protection in farming or nursery operations
What it names as off the pile
- household waste
- yard waste, such as tree trimmings
Burning household waste creates dangerous air pollution and is strictly prohibited. Burning yard waste (such as tree trimmings) is also prohibited.Burning Activities, Maricopa County Air Quality Department, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What Arizona asks of the weather and the site
Setbacks, wind limits and what has to be on hand. These are written into the rule rather than offered as advice.
- any burn can be ordered out when the air is not carrying smoke away
- any burn can be ordered out when smoke is cutting visibility enough to matter for safety
- any burn can be ordered out when the smoke is blowing into a populated area
- the permit itself sets the manner and the time you may light the fire
A provision that all burning be extinguished at the discretion of the director or the director's authorized representative during periods of inadequate atmospheric smoke dispersion, periods of excessive visibility impairment that could adversely affect public safety or periods when smoke is blown into populated areas so as to create a public nuisance.Arizona Revised Statutes 49-501, Unlawful open burning, Arizona State Legislature, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What to check before you light in Arizona
A permit or a season says you may burn in general. What says you may burn today is separate, it changes daily on a wind and humidity forecast, and it overrides a permit already in hand. In Arizona it is published here.
a No Burn Day declaration from your county air quality department
Maricopa County Air Quality Department
To find out if a No Burn Day has been declared you can download the Clean Air Mobile App or call 602-506-6400.Maricopa County Air Quality Department, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What your town can add in Arizona
Arizona hands air quality down to the counties, whose boards of supervisors must write rules at least as strict as the state's and may write them stricter, which is why the answer to can I burn changes at the county line.
The board of supervisors shall adopt such rules as it determines are necessary and feasible to control the release into the atmosphere of air contaminants originating within the territorial limits of the county or multi-county air quality control region in order to control air pollution, which rules, except as provided in subsection C shall contain standards at least equal to or more restrictive than those adopted by the director.Arizona Revised Statutes 49-501, Unlawful open burning, Arizona State Legislature, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Arizona burn permit questions
Burn permits in other states
Arizona rules read September 23, 2026 from Arizona Revised Statutes 49-501, Unlawful open burning, Arizona State Legislature. Rules change, a county or town may be stricter than the state, and a burn ban issued today overrides a season that is otherwise open. Every state is on the burn permit hub.