Front Range
Open burning in El Paso County is a permit question
A Porch Note from Colorado Porch — plain-English local details for all 64 Colorado counties.
Burning a slash pile or a stretch of brush is not a decision you make by glancing at the weather out the window. Under Colorado air-pollution rules, open burning is prohibited unless you first hold the right air-quality permit, and getting one means a review of what you plan to burn and the conditions on the day. That is only the first gate. Before you can put fire to the pile, you also need a fire-safety open burning permit from the El Paso County Fire Warden.
The materials rule is narrow on purpose. A permit covers dry natural vegetative material — the kind of slash and brush that piles up after tree work. It will not be approved for trash, treated wood, pallets, construction debris, plastic, chemicals, or similar materials, which release the smoke and toxins these rules exist to keep out of the air.
This lands hardest on rural and edge-of-town properties, where a season of clearing can leave a real mound of cut wood waiting. Holding both permits still does not put you in the clear: a county fire ban, an air pollution alert, or a local fire-district requirement can all shut a burn down on a given day, permit in hand or not.
El Paso County Public Health’s open burning page carries the steps and links the current fire status. It is worth a look the morning of, not just the week before.
Sources
Official or primary sources used for this note. Local details can change, so confirm before acting.