Burn Bans

In any district where Firewardens have been appointed, a permit (the written permission of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection) is required before you set fire to, or cause to be burned, waste, fallows, stumps, logs, brush, dry grass, fallen timber or any other material or vegetation that could cause a forest fire (N.J.S.A. 13:9-19). A separate department permit is required before setting fire to or burning any forest (N.J.S.A. 13:9-20); the one exception is a back fire set on your own property to protect it, and if that back fire escapes to adjoining property you are liable for the cost of extinguishment and all damage. Within the designated protection area this permit requirement supersedes any other law. Under N.J.S.A. 13:9-44.10 a violation carries a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each offense, a fine of not more than $100,000 for each offense where the violation is a crime, and a civil administrative penalty of not more than $5,000 for each violation plus not more than $500 for each day the violation continues. Separately, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service sets staged campfire restrictions (Stage 1 to Stage 3) and agricultural burning restrictions division by division as fire danger changes. On the Forest Fire Service's official fire-danger layer (last edited October 16, 2026), all 3 divisions - Northern, Central and Southern New Jersey - read fire danger LOW with NO campfire restriction stage and NO agricultural burning restriction. Restrictions can be imposed quickly as conditions dry out, so check the Conditions and Restrictions Dashboard at dep.nj.gov/parksandforests/wildfire/conditions-restrictions-dashboard/, and your municipality and local fire official, before any open burning or campfire.