To find out whether you can burn on your property in Minnesota today, open the DNR’s fire danger and burning restrictions map and click your area. It will show whether burning permits are being issued, whether they’ve been suspended, or whether a full burning ban is in effect. If you already hold a permit, you still have to activate it for the day before you light anything, and if permits are suspended for your area, you won’t be able to activate.
Two Ways to Check Right Now
The DNR’s interactive map lives on the agency’s website and updates each morning. The state is broken into administrative areas that mostly follow county lines, so a click on your location returns the current status for that area.1Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Fire Danger and Burning Restrictions
No internet? Call or text 1-866-533-2876 (1-866-533-BURN) for recorded updates on permit activation and current burning conditions.2Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Burning Permit Information
What the Status and Danger Levels Mean
The map tells you two things: today’s fire danger rating for your area, and whether burning is actually allowed. The DNR uses a five-level danger rating built from recent weather, fuel types like grasses, brush, and timber, and the moisture of live and dead vegetation.1Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Fire Danger and Burning Restrictions
- Low: fires are unlikely to start, and any that do won’t spread much.
- Moderate: fires can start from most ignition sources but spread slowly.
- High: fires start easily and grow fast enough that immediate suppression matters.
- Very High: fires ignite readily, burn intensely, and create real containment problems.
- Extreme: fires start instantly, spread aggressively, and behave erratically enough to overwhelm standard suppression.
When danger climbs into the higher levels, the DNR suspends existing burning permits and stops issuing new ones. At the extreme end, a full burning ban may be declared for part or all of the state. The map reflects those decisions in real time, so trust what it says over what you saw yesterday.
Activate Your Permit Before You Burn
Holding a valid permit is not permission to burn on any given day. Every permit has to be activated on the specific day you plan to burn, before ignition. The activation map resets at 8:00 a.m. each day so local dispatch, law enforcement, and fire departments can see who is burning that day.2Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Burning Permit Information
You can activate through the DNR’s online burning permits portal or by calling or texting 1-866-533-2876 and following the recorded instructions. If the DNR has suspended permits for your area because of fire danger, the system won’t let you activate. That is your signal to wait.2Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Burning Permit Information
Recreational Fires Are Not Automatically Safe
A recreational fire is one used for cooking, warmth, or socializing where the total fuel area is no more than three feet in diameter and two feet in height, and the fuel is not contained in a grill, fireplace, or incinerator. Anything larger counts as open burning and falls under DNR regulation.3Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Recreational Fires and Outdoor Fireplaces
A common misconception is that recreational fires are always allowed even when open burning is banned. They aren’t. During a burning ban, recreational fires and even outdoor smoking may be prohibited depending on how severe the fire danger is.2Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Burning Permit Information Check the current restrictions for your area before assuming the backyard fire pit is fine.
Your City May Have Stricter Rules
The DNR’s rules set the floor. Minnesota cities can adopt local burning ordinances that go further than state law by restricting hours, imposing setback distances, requiring a local permit on top of the DNR permit, or banning open burning entirely within city limits. A city fire chief or marshal can also declare a local burning ban when dry conditions warrant it, independent of any state-level ban.4Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Residential Landscape Debris Burning
Leaf burning is the clearest example. Burning dried leaves is only allowed in cities outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area that have specifically adopted an ordinance permitting it, and even then only between September 15 and December 1. Cities inside the metro area cannot authorize leaf burning at all. Before you burn, check with your local government in addition to the DNR.
What It Costs If You Get It Wrong
Burning without a permit or violating permit conditions is a misdemeanor, carrying up to 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 609.02 – Definitions6Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 88.17 – Permission to Start Fires; Prosecution for Unlawfully Starting Fires A conviction also results in the permit being revoked.
The criminal fine is often the smaller number. Under Minnesota Statute 88.75, anyone who violates the state’s fire laws is liable for the full cost of damages suffered by every affected person, including the state and its political subdivisions. That covers the expense of fighting the fire, keeping it from spreading, and putting it out. If the fire spreads to someone else’s property, the law treats the mere fact that you set it as presumptive evidence of negligence.7Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 88.75
Intentionally setting a fire that burns out of control on someone else’s land is wildfire arson, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Courts can also order restitution for suppression costs and property damage on top of the criminal sentence.8Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes 609.5641 – Wildfire Arson
Two minutes on the map, one call to activate. That is what stands between a legal burn and a bad day.