North Carolina Burn Permit: Do You Need One and When

Q: Do I need a permit to burn leaves in North Carolina?

Yes. N.C. Forest Service, North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services issues it, online burning permit system, NCFS county ranger's office and local permitting agent. It covers the dates you name on the application, one day or a range of days.

Q: What can't you burn in North Carolina?

North Carolina names trash, metal, including wire, plastic, newspaper, cardboard or paper, treated or coated wood and tires and other rubber products among others. The lists across the fifty states agree on a core of it: tires, treated and painted wood, plastics, roofing and household garbage. The full list is quoted below from the state.

Q: How much does a burn permit cost in North Carolina?

North Carolina's permit costs Free. It is good for the dates you name on the application, one day or a range of days. The state takes the application online. Read on September 23, 2026, and a fee can change; the agency's page is linked below.

State permit

Permit for yard debris

N.C. Forest Service, North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Hours, not days

When burning is closed

the state dates are narrower than the state

Restricted

Hours you may burn

residential yard waste and commercial land clearing burning only between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., with nothing new added to the pile after 6 p.m.

Published

Daily check

North Carolina Division of Air Quality

The answer

Do you need a burn permit in North Carolina?

A state permit

Yes, and the state issues it

North Carolina requires a state burning permit, and the season it sets closes the daylight hours rather than the days.

Who issues it: N.C. Forest Service, North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Issued by: a state forest ranger, a local permitting agent, or the state's own online burning permit system
What it costs: Free
How long it lasts: the dates you name on the application, one day or a range of days

Make sure to get a valid burn permit. Contact your NCFS county ranger's office for the names and locations of the nearest local permitting agent or use our online burning permit system.

N.C. Forest Service - Fire Safety Outdoors, N.C. Forest Service, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Where you get one

Online burning permit system
NCFS county ranger's office
Local permitting agent

N.C. Forest Service, North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services's permit system

When

When you may burn in North Carolina

North Carolina 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.

Hours, not days

North Carolina sets no seasonal open burning window; a permit is required year round for a fire in or within 500 feet of state protected woodland, and in most counties only for fires lit between midnight and 4 p.m.

Who sets it: North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes Chapter 106 Article 78
Checked against: Chapter 106, Article 78: Regulation of Open Fires, North Carolina General Statutes

It shall be unlawful for any person to start or cause to be started any fire or ignite any material in any woodland under the protection of the Department or within 500 feet of any such woodland during the hours starting at midnight and ending at 4:00 P.M. without first obtaining a permit from the Department.

Chapter 106, Article 78: Regulation of Open Fires, North Carolina General Statutes, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

North CarolinaHours, not days
North Carolina sets no seasonal open burning window; a permit is required year round for a fire in or within 500 feet of state protected woodland, and in most counties only for fires lit between midnight and 4 p.m.

The hours are part of the rule and are the piece most often missed: North Carolina allows burning residential yard waste and commercial land clearing burning only between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., with nothing new added to the pile after 6 p.m..

Piles of brush burnt down to rings of white ash on a forest floor with smoke drifting through the pines, a single crew member in yellow standing at a distance watching them — Piles burnt down to ash at the Grand Canyon, with one person left standing over them. Almost every state permit carries the same condition in some wording: somebody stays with the fire until it is out. That attendance requirement, not the paperwork, is what most permits are really about. “Grand Canyon National Park - Prescribed Pile Burning, May, 2019”, Grand Canyon NPS, CC BY 2.0

What may burn

What you may and may not burn in North Carolina

What the state names as burnable

leaves
limbs
brush
firewood
natural vegetation from your own yard
logs, stumps, limbs and other natural vegetation as part of land clearing
untreated clean wood

What it names as off the pile

trash
metal, including wire
plastic
newspaper, cardboard or paper
treated or coated wood
tires and other rubber products
heavy oils
asphalt shingles
paints and household or agricultural chemicals
buildings, including outbuildings and mobile homes
any man-made, artificial or synthetic items

One of the most important open burning rules is: If it doesn't grow, don't burn it. It is ALWAYS illegal to burn trash, construction materials or anything man-made and non-vegetative.

Open Burning, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

The conditions

What North Carolina 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.

burn only when the air quality forecast is Code Green or Code Yellow
yard waste must come from your own residence and be burned on that site
prevailing winds at ignition must blow away from any town, development or major highway
land clearing piles must sit at least 500 feet from occupied structures and at least 250 feet from a public road when the wind blows toward it
never leave the fire unattended
do not use heavy oils, asphaltic material or rubber to start or feed the fire

Yard waste must originate at a private residence and be burned on that site. In other words, residents can only burn vegetation from their own yard — not yard waste from other homes or locations — and only if it is allowed under local ordinances and only if public pickup is not available.

Open Burning, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

The morning of

What to check before you light in North Carolina

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 North Carolina it is published here.

the state air quality forecast for your county, which decides whether burning is legal that day, plus any local or state burn ban

North Carolina Division of Air Quality

Also, burning is only allowed when the air quality forecast is Code Green or Code Yellow. Burning on Code Orange, Red or Purple days is prohibited.

North Carolina Division of Air Quality, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

A volunteer fire department letter board reading BURN BAN IN EFFECT above a Smokey Bear fire danger sign showing HIGH, with a red flag flying beside it — A volunteer fire department in Florence, Texas, posting the answer on its own sign. A burn ban is usually declared by a county judge or a local fire authority, and it closes burning that a state permit would otherwise allow. Whatever the season says, the ban is the last word. “Florence Texas VFD Burn Ban Sign”, Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0

Your town

What your town can add in North Carolina

City and county ordinances, local burn bans and additional N.C. Forest Service permit conditions all sit on top of the state rules, and following the state rules does not make you compliant with them.

In addition to the state open burning rules, you may also be subjected to local ordinances, local burn bans, or permitting requirements from the N.C. Forest Service. Compliance with these open burning rules does not guarantee compliance with all local rules and regulations.

N.C. Forest Service - Fire Safety Outdoors, N.C. Forest Service, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

North Carolina burn permit questions

Do I need a permit to burn leaves in North Carolina?

When can you burn in North Carolina?

North Carolina sets no seasonal open burning window; a permit is required year round for a fire in or within 500 feet of state protected woodland, and in most counties only for fires lit between midnight and 4 p.m. Inside that, burning is allowed residential yard waste and commercial land clearing burning only between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., with nothing new added to the pile after 6 p.m.. The sentence is quoted from North Carolina General Assembly, General Statutes Chapter 106 Article 78 below, with a link.

Is North Carolina's burning season the same everywhere in the state?

No, and this is the part most tables get wrong. What the dates are: hours, not days. North Carolina sets no seasonal open burning window; a permit is required year round for a fire in or within 500 feet of state protected woodland, and in most counties only for fires lit between midnight and 4 p.m. A fifty-state table that prints two dates beside North Carolina is telling you something the state did not say.

How do I find out if there is a burn ban in North Carolina today?

What can't you burn in North Carolina?

What are the rules for a legal burn pile in North Carolina?

How much does a burn permit cost in North Carolina?

Who do I call before burning in North Carolina?

North Carolina rules read September 23, 2026 from N.C. Forest Service - Fire Safety Outdoors, N.C. Forest Service. 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.