Arkansas burn ban rules operate on two tracks: a permanent state statute against unlawful burning that applies every day of the year, and temporary burn bans that county judges and city officials can declare when drought, wind, or low humidity make outdoor fires dangerous. Violating either can bring a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine, and intentional burning of someone else’s land is a Class C felony. On top of the criminal side, if your fire escapes and damages a neighbor’s property, you can be sued in civil court for the full cost.
How Burn Bans Work
A burn ban is a temporary order that prohibits most outdoor burning in a specific county or city. County judges and city officials have the authority to issue them when conditions turn dangerous. Bans typically respond to drought, low humidity, high winds, or some combination that makes even a small flame likely to spread.
A ban sits on top of the state’s permanent burning laws. The unlawful burning statute applies year-round. A ban temporarily restricts activities that would otherwise be legal, like burning yard waste on your own property with proper precautions. While a ban is active, those routine burns are off-limits unless you get a permit from the local official who declared the ban.
Checking For an Active Ban
Arkansas maintains an interactive burn ban map on its official state website that shows which counties currently have active bans.1Arkansas.gov. State Burn Ban Map You can also call your county judge’s office, local fire department, or city hall. Bans can go into effect quickly when conditions deteriorate, so checking before you light anything is worth the thirty seconds it takes.
What You Can and Cannot Burn
Even with no ban in effect, Arkansas air quality regulations restrict what goes in the fire. The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission’s Rule No. 18 prohibits open burning of garbage, refuse, and trade waste.2Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality. Rule No. 18 – Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission That means no household garbage, no plastics or synthetic materials, no construction and demolition debris such as treated lumber or roofing, and no tires, rubber, or asphaltic materials.
What you generally can burn, with proper precautions and no active ban, is natural vegetation: yard waste, leaves, brush, and untreated wood. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality offers guidance on yard waste burning, and local authorities may require a permit from the county courthouse, city hall, or fire department even for those allowed materials.3Environmental Quality. Yard Waste – Air – DEQ
What Counts as Unlawful Burning
Arkansas Code § 5-38-310 casts a wide net, and several things on the list catch people off guard. You do not have to intend any harm. Carelessness is enough.
- Losing control of a fire you built or were managing so that it spreads onto another person’s land.4Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning
- Burning brush, stumps, grass, or other debris on your own land or anyone else’s without taking proper precautions before and after lighting. If the fire escapes to neighboring timber or grassland, that escape is treated as automatic evidence you failed to take the required precautions.4Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning
- Building a campfire on someone else’s land without clearing flammable material around it, or leaving a campfire that then spreads.4Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning
- Starting a fire by discarding a lit cigarette or match, or by discharging a firearm in forest material and leaving it burning.4Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning
- Defacing or tearing down fire warning notices posted for public safety.4Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning
When Burning Becomes a Felony
Most unlawful burning charges are misdemeanors, but three specific situations under Arkansas Code § 5-38-311 rise to Class C felonies. The dividing line is intent and the target.
- Purposely setting fire to another person’s land. This is the intentional version of what the misdemeanor statute reaches through negligence.5Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-38-311 – Unlawful Burning – Miscellaneous Felonies
- Lighting a fire on land you own or control with the intent that it spread to someone else’s land, even if it never actually gets there.5Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-38-311 – Unlawful Burning – Miscellaneous Felonies
- Destroying, damaging, or stealing telephone lines, towers, buildings, tools, or equipment used to detect, report, or suppress fires.5Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-38-311 – Unlawful Burning – Miscellaneous Felonies
That third category is broader than it sounds. Vandalizing a fire lookout tower or cutting a communication line used for fire reporting carries the same felony exposure as deliberately burning someone’s land.
Criminal Penalties
The gap between the misdemeanor and felony levels is wide.
Class A Misdemeanor
Standard unlawful burning under § 5-38-310 is a Class A misdemeanor. The maximum sentence is one year in jail.6Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence The maximum fine is $2,500.7Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines – Limitations on Amount A judge can impose jail, a fine, or both. On a first offense with no property damage, fines are more common than jail, but the court has full discretion.
Class C Felony
The three offenses under § 5-38-311 are Class C felonies. A Class C felony carries a prison term of three to ten years.6Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-4-401 – Sentence Fines can reach $10,000.7Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-4-201 – Fines – Limitations on Amount A conviction also leaves a permanent criminal record that can affect employment and housing.
Civil Liability If Your Fire Damages a Neighbor
Criminal exposure is not the only financial risk. A separate Arkansas statute makes anyone whose fire causes damage to another person liable for the full cost of that damage. If you set fire to grass or other material within your own property and it damages someone else’s property, the injured party can sue you for compensatory damages in civil court.8FindLaw. Arkansas Code Title 18 Property 18-60-103
A fire that escapes and burns a neighbor’s fence, barn, timber, or home can result in a lawsuit on top of the criminal charge. The civil case does not require a criminal conviction. Your neighbor only needs to prove the fire originated on your property and caused their loss. Homeowners insurance may or may not cover the damage depending on your policy and whether the insurer determines you were negligent. Burning during an active ban or without required precautions strengthens a negligence argument considerably.
Exceptions and Permits
Agricultural Burning
Arkansas law exempts agricultural operations from certain environmental restrictions that apply to other burning. Farmers burning crop residue after harvest or clearing fields for planting generally fall under this exemption.9Justia Law. Arkansas Code 8-4-305 – Exceptions The exemption does not override an active burn ban and does not excuse negligence. If an agricultural fire escapes your property, the unlawful burning statute still applies. Standard precautions like disking field perimeters to create firebreaks are expected practice, and skipping them strengthens a negligence case against you.
Local Burn Permits
Local governments can operate their own permit systems for outdoor burning. Permits typically come from the county courthouse, city hall, or local fire department.3Environmental Quality. Yard Waste – Air – DEQ When a ban is in effect, a permit from the local official who declared it may be the only route to a legal outdoor burn. Contact your county judge’s office or city hall to find out whether permits are available during a ban and what conditions apply.
One detail worth pinning down: a local burn permit for safety purposes does not replace permits required under state environmental regulations, and the reverse is also true.3Environmental Quality. Yard Waste – Air – DEQ If both apply, you need both.
Prescribed Burns
Arkansas has a Prescribed Burning Act that gives landowners and land managers a framework for planned burns aimed at habitat management, invasive species control, and similar purposes. A legitimate prescribed burn requires a written burn plan that typically addresses weather conditions, containment lines such as firebreaks, smoke management, and notification of local fire authorities. What separates a prescribed burn from casual outdoor burning is the level of planning, professional oversight, and documentation. If you are considering one, contact the Arkansas Forestry Commission for guidance on meeting state requirements.
Practical Steps to Stay Compliant
Staying out of trouble is mostly about checking before you light and taking precautions that seem obvious in hindsight but get skipped constantly. Before any outdoor burn, confirm on the state burn ban map that no ban is in effect in your county.1Arkansas.gov. State Burn Ban Map Call your local fire department or county judge’s office if you are unsure whether a permit is required. Clear a buffer of bare ground around the burn area, keep water or a shovel within reach, and never leave a fire unattended.
If wind picks up or humidity drops while you are burning, put the fire out. The statute gives you no credit for good intentions if your fire escapes. The fact that it escaped is treated as evidence you did something wrong, and both criminal charges and a civil lawsuit from your neighbor can follow.4Justia Law. Arkansas Code 5-38-310 – Unlawful Burning