Colorado Burn Permit: Do You Need One and When
Colorado gives you an open burn small pile permit for free, good for the calendar year and up to fifty piles no bigger than eight feet on a side, each one out cold by sunset, and you get it from the state Air Pollution Control Division unless you live in one of the sixteen counties that issue their own, with metro Denver and Boulder closed to burning from November 1 through March 31 and no permits at all anywhere a fire ban is running.
Do you need a burn permit in Colorado?
Yes, and the state issues it
Colorado requires a state burning permit, and the dates that close burning, Nov 1 to Mar 31, apply in named counties rather than statewide.
- Who issues it
- Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Air Pollution Control Division
- Issued by
- the state Air Pollution Control Division in most of Colorado, or your county's delegated local agency in sixteen counties that have taken it over
- What it costs
- Free
- How long it lasts
- the current calendar year, for 50 or fewer piles
If you wish to open burn small piles/slash in the following counties, contact the local delegated agency for a permit (a delegated agency is one that has been granted legal delegation by Colorado’s Air Pollution Control Division to issue open burning permits)Open burn small pile/slash permits, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Air Pollution Control Division, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Where you get one
- Download the state application and email, fax or mail it to the Open Burning Coordinator
- Apply to your county's delegated agency if you live in one of the sixteen
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Air Pollution Control Division's permit system
When you may burn in Colorado
Colorado 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
The seven county Denver and Boulder metro area is closed to open burning from November 1 through March 31, the winter high pollution season. The rest of Colorado has no statutory season and burns on the day's conditions instead.
- Who sets it
- Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Air Pollution Control Division
- Checked against
- Open burn small pile/slash permits, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Air Pollution Control Division
Burning is prohibited in the seven-county Denver/Boulder metro area from November 1-March 31 each year.Open burn small pile/slash permits, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Air Pollution Control Division, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
The seven county Denver and Boulder metro area is closed to open burning from November 1 through March 31, the winter high pollution season. The rest of Colorado has no statutory season and burns on the day's conditions instead.
The hours are part of the rule and are the piece most often missed: Colorado allows burning piles must be out cold by sunset, and no pile may be bigger than eight feet on a side.
What you may and may not burn in Colorado
What the state names as burnable
- natural wood
- leaves
- dry prairie grass
- slash
- weeds
What it names as off the pile
- clean lumber
- pallets
- tree stumps
- tires
- chemicals
- plastic
- construction debris
- furniture
- burning in barrels
Only natural wood, leaves, dry prairie grass, slash and weeds may be burned, unless approved by the Division or an authorized local agency as specified in the relevant permit;Regulation Number 9, Open Burning, Prescribed Fire, and Permitting, 5 CCR 1001-11, Air Quality Control Commission, effective 04/15/2024, via the Code of Colorado Regulations, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What Colorado 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.
- have fire suppression ready the whole time
- burn in open piles, never in a barrel
- no permit issues at all in a county with a fire ban running
- the division weighs how close the burn is to buildings and what the weather is doing on the day
- dry the material before you light it and pull out anything that smokes badly
- a broadcast burn is capped at ten acres of grass or five acres of other vegetation
All burns must have fire suppression ready at all times.Regulation Number 9, Open Burning, Prescribed Fire, and Permitting, 5 CCR 1001-11, Air Quality Control Commission, effective 04/15/2024, via the Code of Colorado Regulations, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What to check before you light in Colorado
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 Colorado it is published here.
the state's burn day smoke tools, plus whether your county has a fire ban running
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Air Pollution Control Division
If you have a permit to burn in metro Denver, you must check the forecast.Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Air Pollution Control Division, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What your town can add in Colorado
Sixteen counties have been handed the permit by the state and run it themselves, and any county fire ban stops permits being issued at all.
We won’t issue permits in a county with an ongoing fire ban.Open burn small pile/slash permits, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Air Pollution Control Division, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Colorado burn permit questions
Burn permits in other states
Colorado rules read September 23, 2026 from Open burn small pile/slash permits, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Air Pollution Control Division. 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.