Pennsylvania Burn Permit: Do You Need One and When
Pennsylvania has no statewide burn permit for private land: whether you may burn is your municipality's call, and the thing to check the morning of is whether your county is under one of the temporary burn bans the Bureau of Forestry tracks, with the state's own dated closure applying only on state forest land from March 1 through May 25.
Do you need a burn permit in Pennsylvania?
Yes, and your town or county issues it
Pennsylvania leaves the permit to your town, county or fire district, and the only dates it sets are for state forest land.
- Who issues it
- Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry
- Issued by
- your own municipality or county, if it requires a permit at all: Pennsylvania runs no statewide open burning permit for private land, and the state's role is the county and statewide burn bans
If you plan to burn, be sure to check with your local authorities to confirm burning is permitted. Local municipalities and county offices may have additional burning restrictions or ban information.Burn Bans, Wildfire, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Where you get one
- Check with your local authorities
- Local municipality
- County office
That makes your town, county or fire district the office with the answer, and it is usually a short call: they say whether a permit is being issued at all right now, what it covers and what it costs. What Pennsylvania itself publishes is below, and it is worth having in hand before you ring.
When you may burn in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania 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.
State forest land only
Pennsylvania sets no statewide open and close dates for burning on private land: the dates that stop you are a temporary county burn ban, a municipal ordinance, or a governor's statewide proclamation. On state forest land the state does set dates, closing fires in fire rings and fireplaces from March 1 through May 25.
- Who sets it
- Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry
- Checked against
- Burn Bans, Wildfire, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
State Forest Lands: Fires in fire rings and fireplaces are prohibited from March 1 through May 25 and when the forest-fire danger is determined by the Department to be high, very high, or extreme.Burn Bans, Wildfire, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
- PennsylvaniaState forest land only
Pennsylvania sets no statewide open and close dates for burning on private land: the dates that stop you are a temporary county burn ban, a municipal ordinance, or a governor's statewide proclamation. On state forest land the state does set dates, closing fires in fire rings and fireplaces from March 1 through May 25.
What you may and may not burn in Pennsylvania
What the state names as burnable
- domestic refuse from a dwelling occupied by two families or less, burned on the premises
- a fire set solely for recreational or ceremonial purposes
- a fire set solely for cooking food
- a fire set in conjunction with the production of agricultural commodities in their unmanufactured state on the premises of the farm operation
What it names as off the pile
- any open burning of material inside an air basin
(5) A fire set for the purpose of burning domestic refuse, when the fire is on the premises of a structure occupied solely as a dwelling by two families or less and when the refuse results from the normal occupancy of the structure. (6) A fire set solely for recreational or ceremonial purposes. (7) A fire set solely for cooking food.25 Pa. Code § 129.14, Open burning operations, Pennsylvania Code, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What Pennsylvania 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.
- smoke must not be visible past your own property line
- no smell of the fire past your own property line
- the fire must not interfere with anyone's reasonable enjoyment of life or property
- the fire must not damage vegetation or property, or harm people or animals
- on state forest land, no fire in a ring or fireplace when the Department calls the danger high, very high or extreme
(b) Outside of air basins. No person may permit the open burning of material in an area outside of air basins in a manner that: (1) The emissions are visible, at any time, at the point such emissions pass outside the property of the person on whose land the open burning is being conducted. (2) Malodorous air contaminants from the open burning are detectable outside the property of the person on whose land the open burning is being conducted. (3) The emissions interfere with the reasonable enjoyment of life or property. (4) The emissions cause damage to vegetation or property. (5) The emissions are or may be deleterious to human or animal health.25 Pa. Code § 129.14, Open burning operations, Pennsylvania Code, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What to check before you light in Pennsylvania
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 Pennsylvania it is published here.
the county burn ban map, plus the observed and forecast wildfire danger the Bureau of Forestry posts every day
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry
The most recent observed conditions and a short term forecast are posted daily on the Wildfire page under the Wildfire Danger Maps heading.Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What your town can add in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania counties can impose a temporary burn ban of up to 30 days, extendable once, and municipalities can add their own restrictions; the governor can ban burning statewide by proclamation.
County burn bans on open burning can be put in place at the request of the district fire warden (usually the district forester), after at least 10 fire chiefs or 50 percent of the fire chiefs in the county, whichever is less, recommend and request the imposition of a temporary countywide burn ban on open fires.Burn Bans, Wildfire, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Pennsylvania burn permit questions
Burn permits in other states
Pennsylvania rules read September 23, 2026 from Burn Bans, Wildfire, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 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.