Tarrant County Burn Ban: Rules, Exemptions, and Penalties

A Tarrant County burn ban prohibits outdoor burning in the unincorporated parts of the county whenever the Commissioners Court has an active order in place under Texas Local Government Code Section 352.081.¹ Each order lasts up to 90 days and can be renewed. Burning in violation of an active ban is a Class C misdemeanor with a fine up to $500, and if the fire spreads, the consequences climb quickly into felony territory and civil liability for damages.

How to Check If a Ban Is Active

Before you light anything outdoors, confirm the current status. The Tarrant County Fire Marshal’s outdoor burning page lists whether a ban is in effect, and Tarrant County Regional Communications will tell you over the phone at 817-232-9800.² Two minutes on the phone can save you a citation. Assuming the ban has lifted because it hasn’t rained in a few days, or because you saw a neighbor burning, is not a defense.

Also watch for National Weather Service Red Flag Warnings, which flag combinations of strong winds, low humidity, and warm temperatures where any new fire will spread fast.³ A Red Flag Warning does not carry the criminal penalty a burn ban does, but starting a fire during one and losing control of it puts you in recklessness territory for both civil and criminal purposes.

Who the Ban Actually Covers

This is the detail most people miss. The Tarrant County burn ban applies only to the unincorporated areas of the county.⁴ If your property is inside the city limits of Fort Worth, Arlington, Mansfield, or any other municipality within the county, the county order does not directly govern you. Your city has its own fire code and outdoor burning ordinances, and some of those are stricter than the county’s order year-round.

If you don’t know whether your address is unincorporated, your county tax records will say, or the Fire Marshal’s office at 817-232-9800 can confirm. Being inside city limits doesn’t mean you can burn freely during dangerous conditions. It means your rules come from your city rather than from the Commissioners Court.

What You Can’t Do During the Ban

While a burn ban is active, all outdoor burning in unincorporated Tarrant County is prohibited unless it fits a specific exception.⁴ The activities that most often trip people up:

Burning brush, tree limbs, leaves, grass clippings, or other yard debris.
Open burning of household trash or refuse in pits or barrels, regardless of how large your property is.
Piling and burning natural debris as part of land clearing or property maintenance.
Campfires, bonfires, and any other open flame that isn’t fully enclosed.

The common thread is exposure. If flames, heat, or sparks can reach surrounding vegetation and nothing fully encloses the fire, it falls under the ban. Tossing a lit cigarette into a dry ditch or field can also draw enforcement.

What’s Still Allowed

The county order carves out three exceptions: fires inside an enclosure that contains all flames and sparks, welding conducted under guidelines set by the County Fire Marshal, and activities authorized by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.⁴

Cooking, Recreation, and Warmth

Grills, smokers, and fire pits used for cooking, recreation, or warmth are allowed as long as the fire is fully enclosed within the device.⁵ “Enclosed” means the structure keeps all flames and sparks contained. A charcoal grill with a lid qualifies. An open campfire ring on bare dirt does not, because sparks can escape freely. Keep water or a fire extinguisher within reach, don’t leave the fire unattended, and place the equipment on concrete, gravel, or another noncombustible surface.

One restriction still applies even inside an enclosed device: you can’t burn treated lumber, plastics, rubber, electrical insulation, or similar materials. State regulations prohibit those substances regardless of containment.⁶

Welding and Hot Work

Welding and grinding outdoors are permitted during a ban, but you have to follow guidelines established by the County Fire Marshal.⁴ Standard hot-work safety practice means using wind shields to contain sparks, keeping the surrounding area clear of dry vegetation, having a spotter with firefighting equipment, and keeping fire extinguishing gear immediately accessible during and after the work.

Prescribed Burns and Certain Agricultural or Utility Activities

Texas law specifically exempts a narrower set of activities from county burn bans. Those include TCEQ-authorized activities related to public health and safety, such as firefighter training, utility and pipeline operations, and agricultural planting or harvesting.¹ Prescribed burns run by a certified and insured prescribed burn manager who meets state certification standards are also exempt. The reason these operators get an exemption is training, planned safety measures, and direct accountability. A homeowner burning brush in the backyard has none of that, and that is precisely who the ban targets.

How Long the Ban Lasts

A burn ban order has to state its duration and cannot extend beyond 90 days from the date the Commissioners Court adopted it. The court can immediately adopt a new order when the current one expires, and during an extended drought back-to-back 90-day orders are routine.¹

An order also ends earlier if the Texas A&M Forest Service determines that drought conditions no longer exist, or if the Commissioners Court (or its designee, such as the county judge or fire marshal) finds that the hazardous conditions have passed.¹ You don’t have to wait for a formal announcement, but calling 817-232-9800 to confirm before you burn is the safe move.

Penalties for Burning During an Active Ban

Outdoor burning that violates an active ban is a Class C misdemeanor when done knowingly or intentionally, with a maximum fine of $500 per offense.¹ Law enforcement officers and the Fire Marshal can issue citations on the spot. Reports of illegal burning can go to Tarrant County Regional Communications at 817-232-9800 or the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office at 817-884-1315.²

A conviction goes on your criminal record and shows up on background checks. The $500 fine is the ceiling for the burn ban violation itself. It is not the ceiling for what a runaway fire can cost you.

When the Fire Spreads

The $500 misdemeanor is the least of the exposure if a fire you started gets away. Texas Administrative Code Section 111.221 states plainly that authorization to conduct outdoor burning does not shield you from liability for damages or injuries the fire causes.⁷ When you were violating a burn ban at the time, the civil picture gets worse: violating a safety statute can establish negligence as a matter of law, so a damaged neighbor doesn’t have to prove you were careless. The violation proves it.

Criminal exposure can also escalate well beyond a Class C misdemeanor. Under the Texas Penal Code, intentionally starting a fire that damages another person’s property, vegetation, or structures on open land is arson, a second-degree felony carrying 2 to 20 years in prison. If someone suffers bodily injury or death, the charge rises to a first-degree felony. Recklessly causing property damage or injury through a fire you started can be charged as a state jail felony. A pile of brush behind the house can turn into a prison sentence if embers reach the neighbor’s fence line.

Neighbors also have a preemptive tool. Any person can seek an injunction to prevent a violation or threatened violation of a burn ban order, meaning someone who sees you preparing to burn can go to court to stop you before you strike a match.¹

1
State of Texas. Texas Local Government Code 352.081 – Regulation of Outdoor Burning
2
Tarrant County. Outdoor Burning
3
National Weather Service. Watches, Warnings and Advisories
4
Tarrant County. Tarrant County Prohibition of Outside Burning in Unincorporated Areas
5
Legal Information Institute. 30 Texas Administrative Code 111.207 – Exception for Fires Used for Recreation, Ceremony, Cooking, and Warmth
6
Environmental Protection Agency. Texas 30 TAC Chapter 111 Subchapter B – Outdoor Burning
7
Legal Information Institute. 30 Texas Administrative Code 111.221 – Responsibility for Consequences of Outdoor Burning