Louisiana Burn Ban Information from Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office

The Louisiana State Fire Marshal has answered questions about the issuing of parish-specific and state burn bans.

Here are some of the facts from the Louisiana State Fire Marshal about Burn Bans:

• Burn bans apply to open burning practices (burn piles, burn barrels, etc.) of legal materials like vegetation.
• Burn bans do not apply to approved, agricultural burn practices for farming.
• Burn bans also do not apply to the recreational use of fire pits, campfires, or barbecue grills.
• The SFM, in collaboration with the Louisiana Department of Ag & Forestry, only issues multi-parish and full, statewide burn bans, not individual parish bans. “Multi-parish” generally involves at least five connected parishes facing a similar fire threat at the same time.
• When multi-parish and/or statewide burn bans are issued, they are generally due to an extended fire threat.
• Parish government leaders and/or bodies have the authority to issue parish-wide burn bans. Parish government leaders and/or bodies also have the authority to opt-out of a statewide burn ban. Fire chiefs have the authority to allow for individual exceptions to a statewide burn ban.
• Active, reported burn bans are maintained on this online map that can be found on both the LDAF and SFM websites: Louisiana Burn Ban Map
• To learn more about what’s legal and not legal to burn in Louisiana, check out this page on the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality’s website: Open Burning in Louisiana