Fire Pit Regulations in New Hampshire (NH)

New Hampshire Permits Almost Every Fire, Including the One in Your Fire Pit

New Hampshire's rule is the opposite of most of New England: a contained backyard fire is not exempt. RSA 227-L:17, II says no person "shall kindle or cause to be kindled any fire" without a written permit from the forest fire warden of the town, and the only built-in exception is "when the ground is covered with snow." Paragraph IV repeats it for camp or cooking fires, which need written permission of the landowner and the warden, "only at suitable times and in suitable places." The Division of Forests and Lands' rules close the remaining gap: Res 5601.02 says "A fire permit shall be required for all open burning when the ground is not covered by snow," and the definitions in Res 5601.01 make open burning include portable fireplaces, "devices such as chimeneas, steel fire pits, and any other device" built to burn wood.

• Category I is the fire pit permit. "A small controlled fire, such as a camp or cooking fire, no greater than 2 feet in diameter," in a ring of fire-resistive material or a portable fireplace, at least 25 feet from a structure. It is the only category you can light at any hour and the one cities put on a seasonal permit.
• Category II is the same contained fire up to 4 feet across at 50 feet from structures. Category III is anything larger or not in a fire-resistive ring (brush piles), also 50 feet, on a permit good for up to 7 days. Category IV is commercial daytime burning signed by both a forest ranger and the warden.
• What needs no permit. Res 5601.06: "Charcoal fires in a container off the ground, gas grills and devices, and all controlled camp stoves." Portable fireplaces that burn only gas or charcoal are carved out of the definition, so a propane fire table is permit-free; the same table burning wood is not.
• The snow exemption is specific. "Ground covered with snow" means the area within a 100-foot radius of the fire's edge is under snow or other frozen precipitation deep enough to keep woodland fuels from burning until the fire is out.
• Built-in masonry fireplaces can be exempt. A 2017 State Fire Marshal bulletin (2017-06) written with Forests and Lands treats an outdoor fireplace with a chimney built to NFPA 211, 10 feet of noncombustible ground in front, and a spark screen over the opening as exempt from the fire permit. Anything open-topped is not. The same bulletin quotes the state fire code's spacing, 25 feet for recreational fires "unless contained in an approved manner" and 50 feet for open fires, which is where the Category I and II distances come from. The code is NFPA 1, 2024 edition, adopted by RSA 153:1, VI-a.

Getting the Permit: Wardens, the Online System, and the $5.50

Only a town forest fire warden, or an agent the state director authorizes on the warden's recommendation, may issue a permit (Res 5601.03). Most residents use the Division of Forests and Lands' online burn permit system (the old nhfirepermit.com address redirects there). It charges a $5.50 transaction fee per permit, none of which goes to the state, and only works for towns that have opted in; elsewhere you go to the fire station. A seasonal permit is an annual permit for Category I, II, or IV fires that expires no later than December 31 of the year issued. You must be 18, print and sign the permit, and carry it with photo ID while burning. The conditions in Res 5601.04 and the restrictions in Res 5601.08:

• Who: the landowner, or someone with the landowner's written permission; nobody under 18; nobody with more than two open-burning violations in the past 7 years.
• Fuel: "clean, untreated wood, leaves or brush less than 5 inches in diameter." The online system lists untreated wood, untreated pallets, campfire wood, brush, or charcoal. No construction debris, treated lumber, tires, or trash.
• Hours: Category I "at any time, raining or not." Category II and III only "between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. unless it is actually raining." Raining means "sustained precipitation that is actively occurring," so a permit issued in the rain is void once the rain stops.
• On hand and attended: adequate suppression equipment is a condition of every permit, and an open fire may not be left unattended before it is completely extinguished. "Attended" means a responsible person on the property who can see the fire and put it out at once. "Completely extinguished" means no smoke, heat, or flame; a buried fire does not count.
• Weather: no burning in wind or other conditions that raise the hazard, and none during a proclamation closing the woodlands.

Breaking any condition in Res 5601.08 (burning 9 to 5 without rain, burning in wind, leaving the fire, closer than the required distance) is a violation that summarily suspends the permit.

Fire Danger Class, Proclamations, and Penalties

The Forest Protection Bureau rates fire danger daily on a five-class scale, and Res 5601.09 requires the director to suspend permit issuance, statewide or regionally, whenever the rating reaches Class 4 or 5 or fire activity is significant or prolonged. The online system says whether permits are being issued. Separately, under RSA 227-L:15 the governor may by proclamation "prohibit the kindling of any open fire in or near woodlands." That happened on September 22, 2025: Portsmouth's fire department relayed a governor's proclamation banning all open fires, including camping fires and fires for warmth, and revoked every previously issued permit, seasonal or not. Only gas grills, lanterns, and gas stoves were excluded.

• Criminal: any violation of RSA 227-L:17 is a misdemeanor. Under RSA 651:2, IV a misdemeanor fine is up to $2,000 for an individual (class A) or $1,200 (class B), and up to $20,000 for a corporation. Concord's permit page puts it as up to $2,000 and/or one year in jail. Violating a governor's proclamation is a violation, up to $1,000.
• Endangering woodland: kindling a fire "willfully or recklessly" that endangers a woodland is a misdemeanor for a natural person and a felony for any other person (227-L:17, VII).
• Suppression costs and neighbors: anyone who kindles a fire without a required permit, or whose negligence causes one, "shall be liable in a civil action" for the warden's expenses in attending or extinguishing it (227-L:17, V), and whoever sets a fire that runs onto another's land "shall pay to the owner all damages" (VI).
• Leaving it burning: whoever kindles a camp or cooking fire near woodlands "shall totally extinguish the same before leaving it," on pain of the same penalties (IV).

What the Cities Add

• Manchester: the Fire Prevention Bureau's recreational fire permit checklist (Sept. 2022) issues the permit only to owner-occupied single-family homes after a site inspection with a $50 yearly fee. The firebox may be no more than 2 feet in diameter, must sit on noncombustible material with an ash cover, and may not be used within 25 feet of a structure or any combustible material, "including the property line." Clean firewood only, constantly attended, extinguisher or garden hose ready.
• Nashua: Nashua Fire Rescue's own burn permit portal requires a permit for open burning of any solid fuel except charcoal, "including in barrels, chimeneas, and fire pits." Category 1 (up to 2 feet, 25 feet from structures) is issued online, but the seasonal version is valid only from 5:00 p.m. to midnight; Categories 2 and 3 need a site visit and 50 feet. A pool, fence, shed, or deck counts as a structure. Gas fire pits must follow the manufacturer's instructions, a hard-piped gas pit needs a building permit and inspection, and each burn must be logged online or by phone.
• Concord: the city's burn permit page sends Concord and Penacook residents to 603-225-8514 or the state online system, with permits issued the day you burn. Brush no more than 5 inches across, 50 feet from any structure or property line, no burning 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. unless raining, a garden hose on hand. Snow cover waives the permit but the city asks for a courtesy call.
• Portsmouth: "A fire permit is always required for open burning," and "fires in chimineas and metal fire pits are considered open Category I fires," per the Fire Prevention Bureau's outdoor burning rules. Seasonal Category I permits run January 1 to December 31 through the state online system. Devices may not be used on decks and must sit 36 inches from combustibles. Open burning is prohibited in the South End and on about 30 listed downtown streets; a permit applied for at one of those addresses is voided automatically. Where state and local rules conflict, the stricter applies.

Sources

• RSA 227-L:17 — Permits; Damages; Penalties (permit requirement, snow exception, camp or cooking fires, liability, misdemeanor/felony)
• RSA 227-L:15 — Governor's proclamation prohibiting open fires in or near woodlands
• RSA 651:2 — Sentences and limitations (fine amounts)
• RSA 153:1, VI-a — State fire code definition (NFPA 1 and NFPA 101, 2024 editions)
• N.H. Admin. Code Res 5601.01 — Definitions (Category I–IV, portable fireplace, permissible material, seasonal permit, raining, snow cover, attended, completely extinguished); 5601.02 — Fire Permit Required; 5601.03 — Fire Permit Issuing; 5601.04 — Category I, II and III Fire Permit; 5601.06 — Outdoor Grills and Stoves; 5601.07 — Age Limit; 5601.08 — Permit Restrictions; 5601.09 — Permit Issuance Suspension
• NH Division of Forests and Lands — Online Burn Permit System ($5.50 fee, seasonal expiry, 100-foot snow rule, allowed materials)
• NH State Fire Marshal Informational Bulletin 2017-06 — Outdoor Fireplaces (hosted by City of Portsmouth)
• City of Manchester Fire Prevention Bureau — Recreational Fire Permit Checklist / Site Inspection
• Nashua Fire Rescue — Burn Permit Portal
• City of Concord — Burn Permits
• Portsmouth Fire Department — Basic Outdoor Burning Rules & Regulations; Online Burn Permitting (prohibited streets); September 22, 2025 proclamation notice

Statutes, rules, and city guidance last reviewed October 2026.