Burn Rules

Contact Lubbock County Sheriff's Office at 806-767-1441 to report a outdoor burn.
ALWAYS CALL BEFORE YOU BURN!

FOR ALL EMERGENCIES CALL 911.

Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission Outdoor Burn Rules

1. Outdoor burning must not pose a nuisance; traffic hazards must be avoided; and air quality must be protected.

2. Before the start of prescribed or controlled burning please contact Lubbock County Sheriff's Office.

3. No burning is allowed within the corporate limits of a city or town unless municipal ordinances permit burning.

4. Burning shall be allowed only when wind direction and other meteorological conditions are such that smoke and other pollutants will not cause adverse effects to any public road, landing strip, or off-site structure containing sensitive receptors, such as people with respiratory problems, livestock, or anything negatively affected by smoke or heat.

5. If at anytime the burning causes or may tend to cause smoke to blow onto or across a road or highway, it is the responsibility of the person initiating the burn to pose flag-persons on affected roads.

6. Burning must be conducted 300 feet from any structure containing sensitive receptors located on adjacent properties unless prior written approval is obtained from the affected occupant.

7. Electrical insulation, treated lumber, plastics, non-wood construction or demolition materials, heavy oils, asphalted materials, potentially explosive materials, chemical wastes and items containing natural or synthetic rubber must not be burned.

8. Burning shall be conducted in compliance with the following meteorological and timing considerations:
   (1) The initiation of burning shall begin no earlier than one hour after sunrise. Burning shall be completed on the same day no later than one hour before sunset, and shall be attended at all times during the active burn phase when the fire is progressing. In cases where residual fires or smoldering objects continue to smoke from these areas shall be extinguished if the smoke from these areas has the potential to create a nuisance or traffic hazard condition. In no case shall the extent of the burn area be allowed to increase after this time.
   (2) Burning is not allowed if wind speed is predicted to be less than 6 miles per hour or greater than 23 miles per hour during the burn or during periods of actual or predicted National Weather Service documented temperature inversions.