Coconino County Fire Restrictions: Stages, Spark Arresters, Penalties

Coconino County fire restrictions run on a three-stage system that progressively limits open flames, smoking, motorized equipment, and even gas appliances on unincorporated land. The county’s Wildfire Defense Ordinance (No. 2024-01) drives the stages, and which one is active depends on drought, wind, and fuel-moisture conditions that usually tighten between May and July and ease once the monsoon arrives. Violations can reach $2,500 in fines, and if your fire escapes, you can be billed for suppression on top of criminal charges.

Check the Current Stage Before You Go

Stages change fast, sometimes within days. The Coconino County Emergency Management portal displays the active stage alongside the ordinance language.¹ The county’s fire restriction page confirms which lands are covered.² The Arizona Emergency Information Network also posts stage changes as they go into effect.³ Confirm the day of your trip. As of late May 2026, for reference, the county had already moved into Stage 1 on unincorporated lands within the Coconino and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest boundaries.

Stage 1: What’s Banned

Stage 1 catches more people out than any other level because the rules sweep wider than most visitors expect. Building, maintaining, or using any fire fueled by wood, charcoal, briquettes, or coal is prohibited unless you are in a “developed site.”² The ordinance defines that term specifically: an area with at least a 15-foot radius of bare ground cleared of vegetation and combustible material, with the overhead canopy cleared too. The rule applies on both public campgrounds and private property.¹

If you’re dispersed camping on undeveloped ground and haven’t cleared a 15-foot radius down to soil, you cannot have a wood or charcoal fire. Smoking outdoors is banned unless you’re inside an enclosed vehicle or within a developed site.² Tracer rounds, incendiary ammunition, and exploding targets are prohibited at every stage.³

Stage 2: What Tightens

When conditions worsen, Stage 2 strips away most of the exemptions Stage 1 still permits. Outdoor welding, acetylene torches, and any mechanical operation producing an open flame are completely banned with no exemptions.¹ Chainsaws and other small motorized equipment used by the public are also prohibited. Fireworks are banned, and firearms discharge is prohibited except for lawful hunting under state or federal regulation conducted on agency-designated ranges.⁴

Campfire rules tighten too. County parks ban all campfires and charcoal or wood grills outright during Stage 2, and parking vehicles on unimproved grassy or forested ground is prohibited so a hot catalytic converter can’t ignite dry vegetation. The narrow exemptions that let some wood fires continue on private developed sites at Stage 1 shrink significantly here, so verify the exact prohibitions on the county’s emergency management page before assuming any fire is legal.

Stage 3: Full Closure

Stage 3 is the ceiling. All fires fueled by combustible material are banned with no exemptions of any kind.¹ Every prohibition from Stage 2 carries forward, and the county calls this a “forest closure.” It stays in place until conditions improve, usually after sustained monsoon moisture.

One point worth separating: when people say the “forest is closed,” that public-entry ban is a U.S. Forest Service order, not a county action. The Forest Service can issue separate closure orders that physically bar entry to Coconino National Forest land, and those often coincide with county Stage 3. The county ordinance governs what activities are banned on unincorporated land. The Forest Service controls access to federal land. Both can run at once.

Propane and Gas Devices

This is the question everyone asks at the campground, and the answer is not a simple yes. During Stage 1, devices fueled solely by pressurized liquid petroleum gas (LPG) with an on-off valve are exempt from the fire ban, provided they’re used within a developed site meeting the 15-foot clearance requirement.² A portable propane camp stove or a gas fire ring qualifies, as long as you can shut it off immediately and it sits on cleared ground.

The detail people miss is that “developed site” requirement. A propane stove fired up on pine needles in the middle of a dispersed campsite is still a violation. The 15-foot cleared radius still applies. At an established campground with concrete pads or gravel sites, you’re generally fine. If you’re boondocking, confirm the ground around your cooking area meets the clearance standard. At Stage 3, even gas devices lose the exemption because all fires are banned without exception.

Spark Arresters on Chainsaws, Generators, and ATVs

Any internal combustion engine operated in or near forest, brush, or grass-covered land is required to have a spark arrester. Chainsaws, generators, dirt bikes, ATVs, and similar equipment all fall under the rule.⁵

A few points that trip people up. A muffler or catalytic converter alone does not count as a spark arrester, even if it seems like it should catch sparks. A turbocharged engine qualifies only if 100 percent of exhaust passes through the turbine, so waste-gated turbos don’t count. The owner or operator is responsible for installing and maintaining the arrester, and the requirement applies on both federal and county land.⁵ Once Stage 2 or Stage 3 is in effect, a properly equipped chainsaw is still off-limits to the public regardless of the arrester.

Where the Rules Apply

Coconino County fire restrictions apply to unincorporated lands and private property within the county. The Board of Supervisors sets and enforces the stages under the Wildfire Defense Ordinance (No. 2024-01).¹ Enforcement authority comes from ARS 11-251.05, which lets counties set penalties for violating their adopted ordinances.⁶

Three separate sets of rules can overlap, and confusing them is one of the most common mistakes visitors make:

The county ordinance governs unincorporated private and public land, enacted by the Board of Supervisors.
U.S. Forest Service orders govern Coconino National Forest and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest land. The Forest Service often aligns its stage levels with the county, but its specific prohibitions and exemptions can differ.
Incorporated cities like Flagstaff, Sedona, and Williams set their own fire codes inside city limits, and those may be stricter than the county’s.

Near Flagstaff you can cross from city to county to national forest jurisdiction within a ten-minute drive. Each boundary can carry different rules. When you’re not sure, follow whichever set is strictest.

Penalties and Suppression-Cost Liability

Under ARS 11-251.05, violating a county fire restriction can reach the maximum penalty for a class 1 misdemeanor: up to six months in jail and a fine up to $2,500.⁶⁷⁸ Those numbers are ceilings; a court sets the actual penalty based on the circumstances.

If your violation starts a wildfire, the exposure grows. Arizona law makes it a separate crime to set fire to wildland recklessly or negligently. A reckless wildland fire is a class 1 misdemeanor; a fire caused by criminal negligence is a class 2 misdemeanor.⁹ Intentionally setting a wildland fire is a felony. On top of criminal charges, you face civil liability for suppression costs and any property damage. Large suppression operations in northern Arizona routinely run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the bill follows the person who started it.

1
Coconino County Emergency Management. Coconino County Emergency Management
2
Coconino County. Fire Restriction Information
3
Emergency Information Network. Areas of Coconino County Within Coconino National Forest and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest Enter Stage 1 Fire Restrictions
4
Department of Forestry and Fire Management. Arizona Forestry Implements Stage 2 Restrictions for Part of Coconino County
5
USDA Forest Service. An Introduction to Spark Arrestors: Spark Arresters and the Prevention of Wildland Fires
6
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 11-251.05 – Ordinances
7
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-802 – Fines for Misdemeanors
8
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-707 – Misdemeanors Sentencing
9
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-1706 – Burning of Wildlands Exceptions Classification