3302 Westgrove Drive Arlington, TX 76001
It depends on your county’s order and what your grill burns. A Texas burn ban is a county order that restricts outdoor burning, and most orders are written around open flame, debris piles, and campfires rather than backyard cooking. Many North Texas counties allow a contained gas grill and restrict wood and charcoal. Read your county’s actual order before you light anything.
There’s no single statewide rule, and a neighbor saying “grilling is fine” isn’t a legal answer. Here’s how to check yours in about two minutes.
What does a Texas burn ban actually cover?
A burn ban is a county commissioners court order that prohibits or restricts outdoor burning in the unincorporated parts of that county. It isn’t a state law and it isn’t a fire department rule. It’s a county order with a defined start date and end date.
According to Texas Local Government Code Section 352.081, a commissioners court can adopt one when drought conditions exist, or when it finds local circumstances create a public safety hazard that outdoor burning would worsen. The order must specify the period it covers, and that period cannot extend beyond the 90th day after adoption. Counties routinely adopt a new order the day the old one expires, which is why a ban can feel like it lasts all fall.
According to the Texas A&M Forest Service, drought conditions for this purpose are measured with the Keetch-Byram Drought Index. The Forest Service also publishes the running list of counties currently under a ban.
What the order does not automatically do is ban cooking. Most carve out an exception for the noncommercial preparation of food in a contained device. The wording varies, and that’s where people get in trouble.
Does a county burn ban apply inside Fort Worth city limits?
No. County burn bans apply to the unincorporated areas of the county, and cities set their own outdoor burning rules. If your address is inside Fort Worth, Keller, Colleyville, Grand Prairie, or McKinney, the county order isn’t what governs you. Your city ordinance and your local fire marshal are.
This trips people up because the county name is what shows up in the news. Tarrant, Denton, Parker, Johnson, Wise, and Collin counties each issue their own orders on their own timelines. In an unincorporated pocket, the county order is the one to read. Collin County’s fire marshal page shows how a county publishes that order and its expiration date.
Which grills are usually allowed, and which usually aren’t?
Contained gas grills are the most commonly permitted; open wood fires and fire pits are the most commonly prohibited. Charcoal sits in the middle and changes most from county to county. Here’s the general pattern — a starting point, not a ruling on your address.
| Cooking device | How county orders commonly treat it | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Propane or natural gas grill | Usually allowed as a contained cooking device | The food-preparation exception |
| Pellet grill (Traeger, Pit Boss, Green Mountain) | Usually contained cooking, but it does burn wood | “Contained” vs “no solid fuel” |
| Charcoal grill or kamado (Big Green Egg) | Varies. Often allowed if contained, covered, attended | Lid and base-surface rules |
| Offset smoker burning splits | Varies. Most likely of the cookers to be restricted | Spark arrestor language |
| Open fire pit or chiminea | Usually prohibited during a ban | Assume no unless stated |
| Burning brush, leaves, or trash | Prohibited. This is what bans exist for | Nothing |
Some orders add conditions even to permitted cooking: noncombustible surface, lid closed, attended until cold. Those are easy to miss, because they usually sit in a paragraph after the exception.
How do you check whether your county has a burn ban right now?
Check the Forest Service list first, then read your own county’s order, then confirm your city ordinance if you live inside city limits. Only the second step takes real reading.
- Open the Texas A&M Forest Service burn ban page and find your county in the current list.
- Open your county’s fire marshal or commissioners court page and read the order. Search it for “preparation of food,” “cooking,” or “contained,” and note the expiration date. Bans roll over, so last month’s date may not be the one in force.
- Inside a city, look up your city’s outdoor burning ordinance instead. That’s what controls your address.
- If the order is ambiguous, call the county fire marshal. They’d rather answer than respond to your backyard.
What happens if you burn anyway?
Knowingly or intentionally violating a county burn ban order is a Class C misdemeanor under Texas law. According to Texas Local Government Code Section 352.081, that’s the offense level the statute assigns, and it also lets any person seek injunctive relief to stop a violation.
The bigger exposure isn’t the citation. It’s liability for what the fire does next — in a dry North Texas September, with brown St. Augustine and a south wind, that’s not a small thing.
Why does a dirty grill matter more during a dry spell?
Because the thing most likely to start a grill fire isn’t the county’s drought index. It’s grease.
According to the NFPA’s Home Grill Fires report, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated average of 10,600 home structure and outdoor fires involving grills per year during 2014 to 2018. The same report names the leading contributing factors: failure to clean, leaks or breaks, leaving the grill unattended, and having it too close to something that could catch fire.
Failure to clean leads that list. A grill that’s legal to use can still be the ignition source. Our crew sees the same setup every dry September across Tarrant and Parker counties: a grease tray untouched since spring, flame tamers under a quarter inch of hardened drippings, a firebox floor that’s basically fuel. Worth reading next: how to prevent grease fires on your BBQ grill and how to clean a charcoal grill.
What’s the safe way to grill during a dry spell in DFW?
Confirm you’re allowed, clean the grill first, and don’t walk away from it. That order matters.
- Verify your county order and city ordinance before you light it.
- Empty the grease tray and scrape the firebox. A full tray is the most common ignition source we pull out of a neglected grill.
- Pull the flame tamers and check burner ports and venturi tubes. A partly blocked burner throws flame where it shouldn’t go.
- Move the grill off the wood deck and away from the fence. Three feet of clearance is the minimum, more in wind.
- Keep a hose within reach, stay with it until it’s cold, and soak charcoal or pellet ash before it goes in a lidded metal can.
Frequently asked questions
Can you use a gas grill during a Texas burn ban?
In most Texas counties, yes. County burn ban orders typically include an exception for the noncommercial preparation of food in a contained device, and a propane or natural gas grill qualifies. The wording isn’t identical everywhere, so read your county’s order before you assume it applies to you.
Does a county burn ban apply if I live inside city limits in DFW?
No. Texas county burn bans apply to the unincorporated areas of the county. If you live inside Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, Frisco, or another incorporated city, your city’s outdoor burning ordinance governs your property instead. Check your city’s website rather than relying on the county announcement.
How long does a Texas burn ban last?
Under Texas Local Government Code Section 352.081, a county burn ban order must state the period it covers, and that period cannot extend beyond the 90th day after the order was adopted. A commissioners court can adopt a new order when the old one expires, so bans often run back to back.
What is the penalty for violating a burn ban in Texas?
Texas Local Government Code Section 352.081 makes it an offense to knowingly or intentionally violate a prohibition or restriction in a county burn ban order, and classifies that offense as a Class C misdemeanor. The statute also makes clear that permission to burn doesn’t excuse anyone from liability for resulting damages.
Are charcoal grills allowed during a burn ban?
It varies more than any other category. Many county orders allow charcoal if the grill is contained, covered, attended, and sitting on a noncombustible surface. Others restrict all solid fuel in severe conditions. Charcoal is where reading the actual order matters most, because the answer differs by county.
Can I use a pellet grill like a Traeger during a burn ban?
Usually, since a pellet grill is a fully contained cooking appliance with an enclosed firepot. It does burn wood, though, and a few county orders are written broadly enough to sweep in solid fuel. If your order restricts solid fuel with no contained-device exception, confirm before you cook.
Where can I check if my county has a burn ban today?
Start with the Texas A&M Forest Service burn ban page, which maintains the current list of Texas counties under a ban. Then open your own county’s fire marshal or commissioners court page for the order text and expiration date. Announcements change often, so check the date rather than an older list.
Get the grill clean before the next dry stretch
Burn ban or not, the grease is the part of this you control. Texas Grill Clean does on-site deep cleaning across our DFW service area, including Fort Worth and Keller. We pull the grates, flame tamers, and burners, degrease the firebox, and check the gas components while we’re in there. Grill deep cleaning starts at $239 and estimates are free. See pricing, the professional grill cleaning page, or gas grill repair for burner and valve work.
Book an appointment or call (817) 791-4606. Texas Grill Clean is part of 1st Choice Residential, veteran-owned and serving Dallas-Fort Worth since 2009. Licensed and insured.
This is general information about how Texas county burn bans work, not legal advice and not a determination about your address. Your county order and city ordinance control.