Outdoor Burning Guidelines 

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) regulates outdoor burning in Texas. The following are guidelines for outdoor burning, as taken from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality guidebook to Outdoor Burning:

TCEQ's Outdoor Burning Publication - (PDF)

1. All controlled burns must be logged with the Brazos County, Texas dispatch. Notify Brazos County 911 Dispatch in advance of your burn by calling 979-361-3888. You must call each day that you burn. This number is not for reporting emergencies; to report a fire or other emergency, dial 911. Likewise, 911 is not to be used for reporting controlled burn information.

2. You may burn brush, leaves, untreated lumber, or any other natural product on the land from which it was cleared. You may not burn insulation (electrical or otherwise), treated or painted lumber, plastics, sheetrock, shingles, carpet, rubber products, paints, oils, or any material brought onto the site from elsewhere, including brush cleared from another location. You may burn household garbage in a burn barrel in areas where a rural trash pickup service is not available.

 3. You may not burn on windy days or during dry periods. The wind speed must be greater than 6 miles per hour, but no more than 22 miles per hour. During dry periods, the Brazos County Commissioner’s Court may enact a “burn ban” in which no outdoor burning is permitted, including burn barrels. Local radio and TV stations will broadcast information on burn bans, and you may call Brazos County 911 Dispatch (non-emergency number) to request the wind speed and to find out if a burn ban is in effect.

4. Burning hours are from one hour after sunrise to one hour before sunset. No additional material may be added to the fire that would cause burning to extend past this time.

5. Campfires, cooking fires, and bonfires are allowed to burn after dark, as long as the materials are those listed above as legal to burn. During periods of a burn ban, these types of fires may not be burned. Other than burn bans, and legal materials listed above, the general rules on allowable outdoor burning do not apply to fires covered by this exception.   

6. Your fire must be downwind of or at least three hundred feet from the nearest property with any type of structure. The immediate area of the fire should be clear of brush, overhanging limbs, and other combustibles. You should have a shovel, rake, and a hose connected to a reliable water source nearby to prevent the spread of the fire. The fire must be tended at all times until it is completely out.

7. If wind carries smoke across any public roadway, you must post someone on the road to flag traffic in accordance with Texas Department of Public Safety regulations.

 8. If the smoke is causing a nuisance of any type to anyone, the fire must be put out even if all the above rules are followed.