Florida Burn Permit: Do You Need One and When
Florida lets you burn a yard waste pile any day of the year without asking anyone, so long as it is under 8 feet across, sits back the required distance from woods, roads and buildings, and burns between mid morning and an hour before sunset, but a bigger pile needs an authorization from the Florida Forest Service field unit and your county may have a burn ban on.
Do you need a burn permit in Florida?
Not from the state
Florida requires no state permit to burn yard debris, and no part of the year is closed, so the answer is the daily check.
- Who issues it
- Florida Forest Service
- Issued by
- nobody for a yard waste pile under 8 feet across; for anything bigger, the Florida Forest Service field unit for your county, by phone
- How long it lasts
- the day you call for it, requested after 4 p.m. the day before or on the day of the burn; an extended authorization can cover up to three days
Burning yard waste does not require a burn authorization, but you must follow the rules for your area.Burn Authorizations, Florida Forest Service, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Where you get one
- Phone
- Contact your local Florida Forest Service field unit
The answer turns on the size of the pile: yard waste in a pile under eight feet across needs no state authorization, and a larger one does.
No permit is not the same as no rules. Florida still sets what may go on the pile, how far it has to be from a building, and the conditions it may be lit in, and a local ordinance can be stricter than the state on every one of those. All of it is below.
When you may burn in Florida
Statewide dates
The state closes no part of the year, so the answer is the daily check.
Florida sets no open burning season, so a yard waste pile may be burned any day of the year as long as it stays under 8 feet across, meets the setbacks and runs inside the daily burning hours, subject to whatever county burn ban is in force.
- Who sets it
- Florida Forest Service
- Checked against
- Burn Authorizations, Florida Forest Service, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
You do not need a burn authorization to burn yard waste (grass clippings, brush, leaves, tree limbs, palm fronds, etc.) as long as: The pile is less than 8 feet in diameter; You meet the required setbacks; and The fire is ignited after 8 a.m. Central Time or 9 a.m. Eastern Time and is extinguished one hour before sunset.Burn Authorizations, Florida Forest Service, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
The hours are part of the rule and are the piece most often missed: Florida allows burning lit after 8 a.m. Central or 9 a.m. Eastern and out one hour before sunset.
What you may and may not burn in Florida
What the state names as burnable
- yard waste
- grass clippings
- brush
- leaves
- tree limbs
- palm fronds
What it names as off the pile
- household garbage
- paper products
- treated lumber
- plastics
- rubber materials
- tires
- pesticide containers
- paint containers
- aerosol containers
Note: It is illegal to burn household garbage including paper products, treated lumber, plastics, rubber materials, tires, pesticide, paint and aerosol containers.Burn Authorizations, Florida Forest Service, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What Florida 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.
- the pile stays under 8 feet in diameter
- 25 feet from forests
- 50 feet from paved public roads
- 25 feet from your house
- 150 feet from other occupied buildings
- clear the ground to bare soil around the pile
- a non-combustible container should be covered with wire mesh to hold the sparks in
The pile must be: 25 feet from forests 50 feet from paved public roads 25 feet from your house 150 feet from other occupied buildingsBurn Authorizations, Florida Forest Service, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What to check before you light in Florida
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 Florida it is published here.
a statewide map of county enacted burn bans, checked against your own county before lighting anything
FFS County-Enacted Burn Ban Map : This map reflects the county-enacted burn bans as reported to the Florida Forest Service. Local burn bans are enacted by county governments.Florida Forest Service, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What your town can add in Florida
Counties enact their own burn bans and cities and counties may add ordinances of their own, so the state tells burners to call the local fire department as well.
Unfortunately, the statewide open burning laws and rules are not the only ones you might have to be concerned about. It is best to contact your local fire department to find out if the city/county might have additional rules or ordinances that you must adhere to in order to burn.Burn Authorizations, Florida Forest Service, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Florida burn permit questions
Burn permits in other states
Florida rules read September 23, 2026 from Burn Authorizations, Florida Forest Service, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. 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.