Clinton County Burn Ban: Hours, EPA Rules, and Penalties

Outdoor burning in unincorporated Clinton County, Ohio is prohibited between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. during March, April, May, October, and November under Ohio’s statewide seasonal burn ban.¹ After 6 p.m. during those months, and any time outside them, burning is allowed subject to separate Ohio EPA rules and any local ordinances. Small cooking fires that meet specific size limits are permitted even during banned hours, and the governor can add stricter restrictions when fire conditions become dangerous.

When the Ban Is in Effect

The seasonal ban runs in two windows each year: spring (March 1 through May 31) and fall (October 1 through November 30). During those five months, you cannot kindle or authorize any open-air fire between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. outside a city or village boundary.² Once 6 p.m. hits, burning is legal again for the night, though the EPA and local rules still apply around the clock.

The ban targets unincorporated areas. It does not cover land inside a municipal corporation or land controlled by a railroad company.¹ Living inside a village doesn’t mean you can burn freely, though. Municipalities often have their own open-burning ordinances that go further than state law. Call your local fire department before you light anything.

Beyond the fixed seasonal schedule, the governor can tighten or eliminate burning windows by executive order when conditions get dangerous.¹ The Ohio State Fire Marshal can add county-level restrictions on top of the seasonal ban.³ When those emergency orders happen, the Clinton County Emergency Management Agency posts updates at cc-ema.org.

What You Can’t Burn During Restricted Hours

During restricted hours in the seasonal months, you cannot burn wood, brush, weeds, grass, or rubbish of any kind in the open air in unincorporated areas. That covers yard-waste piles, brush clearing, trash barrels, and bonfires. Even carelessly tossing a lit match, cigar, or cigarette butt counts as kindling a fire under the statute.¹

One narrow geographic exception exists. You may kindle a fire in a plowed field, garden, or public highway if the fire stays at least 200 feet from any woodland, brushland, or field with dry grass.¹ Most residential lots can’t meet that buffer, so in practice this exception applies to larger agricultural operations with open ground.

Cooking Fires and Grills

Small cooking fires and campfires used for food preparation are allowed during the ban, with conditions. The Clinton County EMA specifies that a cooking fire must:²

Use clean, seasoned firewood or equivalent fuel.
Stay no larger than three feet in diameter and two feet in height.
Be used for cooking, not for burning waste.
Be attended at all times and fully extinguished after use.

Propane and gas grills fall outside the ban entirely, and charcoal grills are similarly fine for cooking. The line the law draws is between cooking food and disposing of debris. The first is allowed; the second is not.

Ohio EPA Rules That Apply Every Day of the Year

The seasonal daytime ban is only half the picture. Ohio EPA’s open-burning regulations apply year-round, including after 6 p.m. during the restricted months and throughout the unrestricted months.

Distance Requirements

Any debris burn pile, residential or agricultural, must sit more than 1,000 feet from a neighbor’s inhabited building.³ That setback catches many homeowners off guard because a typical residential lot cannot meet it. Campfires and bonfires not used for waste disposal have looser placement rules, but they still cannot send visible emissions past your property line, create offensive odors, or damage neighboring property.⁴

Materials That Can Never Be Burned

Some materials are prohibited outdoors regardless of the time or season. Ohio EPA bars burning anything containing rubber, grease, asphalt, liquid petroleum products, plastics, or building materials.⁴ Food waste, dead animals, and animal waste also cannot go into an outdoor fire.³ Any yard waste or brush you burn must have been generated on your own property. Hauling trimmings in from a job site or a neighbor’s yard for burning violates EPA rules.

Open burning is also prohibited any time an air pollution warning, alert, or emergency is in effect, even outside the seasonal ban months.⁴

Agricultural Burning

Farmers have more flexibility, but not carte blanche. Ohio EPA allows open burning of agricultural waste generated on the premises with prior notification to the agency. The fire must sit at least 1,000 feet from any neighbor’s inhabited building, and no prohibited materials can be included. Other specialized activities such as disease or pest control, wildlife habitat management, and prescribed burns also require advance notification.⁴ None of these exemptions override the seasonal daytime ban unless the activity also qualifies under the plowed-field exception with its 200-foot buffer.

Penalties for Violations

Violating Ohio’s seasonal burn ban is a third-degree misdemeanor.⁵ A conviction can bring a fine of up to $500 and up to 60 days in jail. That’s a stiffer consequence than most people expect for burning a brush pile at the wrong hour.

Ohio EPA can pursue separate enforcement for air quality violations. The agency has authority to impose fines of up to $1,000 per day per offense for burning prohibited materials or breaking open-burning rules.⁶ A single illegal burn that breaks both the seasonal ban and EPA regulations can trigger penalties from both the criminal justice system and the environmental agency.

Insurance Risk If a Fire Escapes

Standard homeowner’s insurance generally covers accidental fire damage, and liability coverage may respond if your fire spreads to a neighbor. Insurers look hard at whether the fire was truly accidental, though. Burning during a declared ban is an intentional act, even if you did not intend the fire to spread, and that distinction gives your insurer grounds to deny or limit coverage for resulting damage. A denied claim leaves you personally responsible for the neighbor’s property damage, medical bills, and any other losses.

How to Check Conditions and Report Illegal Burning

The Clinton County Emergency Management Agency at cc-ema.org is the direct source for local burn-ban status and any emergency orders beyond the seasonal schedule.² The Ohio Department of Natural Resources posts fire weather information and safety guidance through its Division of Forestry.⁷ A two-minute call to your local fire department before any burn is worth making, because they know current conditions the websites may not have caught yet.

If you see an illegal burn, call 911 when there’s an active fire posing immediate danger. For non-emergency complaints, contact the Ohio EPA Southwest District Office, which covers Clinton County, at 513-946-7715.⁶ Providing the address, a description of what’s being burned, and whether the fire appears unattended helps responders prioritize the call.

1
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 1503.18 – Kindled Fires
2
Clinton County Emergency Management Agency. 2025 Burn Ban
3
Ohio Department of Natural Resources. ODNR Urges Caution During Ohio’s Spring Wildfire Season
4
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Administrative Code 3745-19-03 – Open Burning in Restricted Areas
5
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 1503.99 – Penalty
6
Ohio EPA. Open Burning
7
Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Open Burning Regulations