A Florida burn permit, which the state officially calls a burn authorization, must be issued by the Florida Forest Service before you light most types of outdoor fires. The FFS checks the day’s weather, fire danger, and smoke dispersion before clearing each burn. Without that clearance, igniting a regulated fire is illegal, even on your own land.
When You Need an Authorization
Authorization is required for agricultural burning, silvicultural burning, land clearing, pile burning, and broadcast burning across acreage. These fires are larger, harder to contain, and produce heavier smoke, so the FFS reviews each request against current conditions before approving it.
You can only burn natural vegetative debris generated on the burn site itself. Hauling material in from another property is not allowed.
Burns That Don’t Need Authorization
Residential yard waste burning is exempt if you stay within the limits. The pile must be smaller than eight feet in diameter or placed in a noncombustible container, the waste has to come from your own property, you must ignite after 8:00 a.m. Central Time or 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and the fire has to be out at least one hour before sunset. Setback distances still apply.
Recreational fires such as campfires and cooking fires using untreated wood are allowed without authorization, but you must stay with the fire until it is fully extinguished. Once your yard waste pile crosses the eight-foot threshold, it becomes pile burning and needs FFS authorization along with stricter setbacks and on-site firefighting equipment.
What You Can and Can’t Burn
Florida law draws a hard line between vegetative debris and everything else. The only materials you can burn outdoors are natural vegetation and untreated wood. The Florida Administrative Code specifically prohibits burning tires, rubber, plastics, treated wood, asphalt, roofing material, tar, garbage, trash, hazardous waste, asbestos-containing materials, pharmaceuticals, and used oil.
Treated versus untreated wood is where most people slip up. Pressure-treated lumber, painted wood, and stained wood all count as treated and cannot go in a burn pile. If construction debris is mixed in with your vegetative material, separate it before burning. Violating these material restrictions can trigger penalties from both the FFS and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Setback Distances by Burn Type
Setbacks vary with the type of burn you’re doing. Getting them wrong is one of the fastest ways to lose an authorization or face a fine.
Residential Yard Waste
Small yard waste burns under the eight-foot pile threshold must be at least 150 feet from any occupied building other than your own, 50 feet from any paved public road, and 25 feet from any wildlands, brush, or combustible structure.
Agricultural or Silvicultural Pile Burning
At least 300 feet from any occupied building, 100 feet from any roadway, and 50 feet from any wildlands, brush, or combustible structure.
Residential Land Clearing
Same as agricultural pile burning: 300 feet from any occupied building, 100 feet from any roadway, and 50 feet from any wildlands, brush, or combustible structure.
Non-Residential Land Clearing
The strictest category. At least 1,000 feet from any occupied building, 100 feet from any paved public roadway, and 100 feet from any wildlands, brush, or combustible structure.
Legal Burning Hours
Standard authorized burns can begin at 8:00 a.m. Central Time (9:00 a.m. Eastern) and must be completed by one hour before sunset. The same window applies to exempt yard waste burning.
Certified prescribed burn managers operate under extended rules: a daytime authorization lets them burn until two hours after sunset, and nighttime authorizations are available when atmospheric dispersion is favorable, allowing burning between one hour before sunset and 8:00 a.m. Central Time the next morning.
How to Request a Burn Authorization
You can request authorization on the day you plan to burn, or after 4:00 p.m. the day before. For non-certified burners, the standard route is calling your local FFS field office, where a Duty Officer takes your request. First-time applicants have to set up a customer account and receive a customer number before anything can be processed.
When you call, have your customer number, the exact burn location (street address or geographic coordinates), and the type and size of material you plan to burn. The Duty Officer reviews the forecast, wind, and smoke dispersion. If conditions look safe, you get your authorization for that day.
Certified prescribed burners and certified pile burners can skip the phone call and submit through the FFS Web-Based Open Burn Authorization Request system, known as WebOBA. Non-certified burners don’t have WebOBA access.
Every authorized burn requires adequate firebreaks, enough personnel, and firefighting equipment on hand to contain the fire. The person named on the authorization, or their designee, has to stay at the burn site until the fire is complete. If the FFS cancels your authorization mid-burn because conditions changed, stop igniting new material immediately.
Local Burn Bans
An FFS authorization only covers the state-level requirements. Counties and municipalities can impose stricter rules, require their own permits, or ban open burning outright. Some counties automatically trigger a ban when the local drought index hits a certain threshold.
Checking for local restrictions is on you. FDACS maintains a county burn ban page, but counties aren’t required to report their bans to the state, so the list can lag. Call your local fire department or county government directly before burning, even if you already have state authorization. Violating a local ban can bring separate fines regardless of your FFS clearance.
During a declared severe drought emergency, burning wildlands, building campfires, or burning trash within the designated area without written FFS permission is a second-degree misdemeanor.
Penalties for Burning Without Authorization
Burning without authorization, or violating the terms of your authorization, is a second-degree misdemeanor under Florida law, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. The same penalty applies to certified burners who violate certification requirements and to anyone who knowingly provides false information on an application.
If your fire escapes its authorized boundary or burns past the authorized time, you are liable for all reasonable suppression costs the FFS and other agencies incur, with a minimum charge of $150. The FFS can pursue legal collection if you don’t pay within 30 days. The Department of Agriculture can also impose administrative fines based on the severity of damage, your prior violation history, and any misrepresentations in your application.
These penalties extend beyond the person who lit the fire. Florida law holds any person, firm, or corporation that caused, directed, or permitted the violation equally responsible.
Civil Liability If Your Fire Causes Damage
Anyone who violates Florida’s open burning laws is civilly liable for all damages caused, recoverable in any court. If your fire crosses onto a neighbor’s land and burns a fence, timber, or structure, you can be sued for the full value of what was lost. Non-certified burners are held to an ordinary negligence standard: the injured party only needs to show you failed to exercise reasonable care. Good documentation that you followed every condition on your authorization is your best defense, but the exposure is real.
Certified prescribed burn managers have substantially stronger protection. When a certified burn follows the authorization requirements, the burn manager is not liable unless the injured party proves gross negligence, defined by statute as conduct so reckless that it shows a conscious disregard for the safety of others.
Certified Burner Programs
Florida runs two certification tracks that give you more flexibility and, for prescribed burning, meaningful liability protection.
Certified Prescribed Burn Manager
Certification requires completing the FFS certified prescribed burning program, with demonstrated experience, training, and a clean compliance record. The FFS sets the standards and can decertify managers who fall short. Along with the gross-negligence liability shield, certified prescribed burn managers get extended daytime hours, access to nighttime authorizations, and WebOBA submission.
Certified Pile Burner
Completing the FFS pile burning certification program lets you burn up to two hours longer per day than non-certified burners, receive multiple-day authorizations instead of single-day ones, and get priority for authorization when conditions are dry and demand is high.