Oklahoma Burn Permit: Do You Need One and When
Oklahoma issues no state burn permit and sets no burning season: yard brush and, where there is no trash pickup, household refuse may be burned on the property that made it, between three hours after sunrise and three hours before sunset, as long as no Governor's or county burn ban and no air quality alert is in effect.
Do you need a burn permit in Oklahoma?
Not from the state
Oklahoma 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
- Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality
- Issued by
- no state permit; the open burning rule simply lists the burns it allows, and a hazard clearing fire needs the local fire chief's prior authorization instead
When not prohibited by law or ordinance, the following types of burning are allowed, provided the conditions and requirements in OAC 252:100-13-9 have been met:OAC 252:100 Air Pollution Control, Subchapter 13 Open Burning, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Where you get one
- No application for an allowed burn
- Prior authorization from the local fire chief to eliminate a fire hazard
- Prescribed burn notification plan filed with the nearest rural fire department
No permit is not the same as no rules. Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma
Statewide dates
The state closes no part of the year, so the answer is the daily check.
Oklahoma sets no burning season; open burning is prohibited year round except for the categories the state's air rule allows, and what closes the door on a given day is a Governor's or county commissioners' burn ban or an air quality alert.
- Who sets it
- Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality
- Checked against
- OAC 252:100 Air Pollution Control, Subchapter 13 Open Burning, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality
The open burning of refuse and combustible materials is prohibited unless conducted in strict accordance with the conditions and requirements contained in OAC 252:100-13-7, 252:100-13-8, 252:100-13-8.1, and 252:100-13-9. Under no circumstances shall the open burning of tires be allowed.OAC 252:100 Air Pollution Control, Subchapter 13 Open Burning, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
The hours are part of the rule and are the piece most often missed: Oklahoma allows burning light it no sooner than three hours after sunrise and add no more fuel after three hours before sunset.
What you may and may not burn in Oklahoma
What the state names as burnable
- yard brush
- domestic refuse where no collection and disposal service is reasonably available
- clean wood waste
- clean lumber
- fires set to forest, crop or range lands for land management
- land clearing operations
- camp fires and other fires used solely for recreational purposes
What it names as off the pile
- tires
- non-wood construction debris
- furniture
- carpet
- electrical wire
- appliances
- grass clippings
- painted, pigment-stained or pressure-treated wood
- plywood, particle board, flake board, and oriented strand board
Where no collection and disposal service is reasonably available, domestic refuse may be burned on the property where the waste is generated.OAC 252:100 Air Pollution Control, Subchapter 13 Open Burning, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What Oklahoma 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.
- no public nuisance is or will be created
- smoke must not create a visibility hazard on any roadway, rail track or air field
- no burning on a day the state has declared an Ozone or PM Alert for your county
- waste from a commercial operation burns at least 500 feet from any occupied structure not on the burn property
- keep firelines, people and equipment on hand and stay with the fire until it is out
The initial burning shall begin only between three hours after sunrise and three hours before sunset and additional fuel shall not be intentionally added to the fire at times outside these limits.OAC 252:100 Air Pollution Control, Subchapter 13 Open Burning, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What to check before you light in Oklahoma
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 Oklahoma it is published here.
the Oklahoma Forestry Services burn ban map, which shows the counties a Governor's or county commissioners' burn ban covers right now
Oklahoma Forestry Services, Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry
Refer to the Oklahoma Forestry Services Burn Ban Map, forestry.ok.gov for restrictions in areas where air quality alerts are in effect.Oklahoma Forestry Services, Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What your town can add in Oklahoma
Cities, counties and local entities may ban or restrict burning more tightly than the state rule does, and following the state rule does not excuse you from theirs.
Persons who conduct open burning in accordance with the provisions of this Subchapter are not exempt or excused from the consequences, damages, or injuries that may result from such conduct, nor are they exempt or excused from complying with all applicable laws, ordinances, rules, and orders.OAC 252:100 Air Pollution Control, Subchapter 13 Open Burning, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Oklahoma burn permit questions
Burn permits in other states
Oklahoma rules read September 23, 2026 from OAC 252:100 Air Pollution Control, Subchapter 13 Open Burning, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. 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.