← Illinois burn ban rules›Current Fire Restrictions

Illinois Current Fire Restrictions (2026)

Info: Illinois has no statewide burn-ban system — restrictions are local. Standing state law (Illinois EPA open-burning page): open burning of refuse is generally prohibited; in any town, or within 1 mile of a town of 1,000+ people, only landscape waste may be burned, and only on the premises where it is generated or at a site a unit of local government provides and supervises; outside those areas household waste from normal activities may be burned except food, food scraps and packaging. Commercial/trade waste burning is illegal statewide, and tires, furniture, commercial waste and construction/demolition debris can never be burned. The state allowance for burning landscape waste, on the premises or at a local-government site, does not apply within any county with a population of more than 400,000 (415 ILCS 5/9), so do not assume you may burn it there. Cities and counties may restrict or ban landscape-waste burning outright — check your county and local ordinance first.

InfoVerified Nov 13, 2026

Get an email when Illinois's burn-ban status changes

We check Illinois's official fire-restriction source three times a day. One email per change, nothing else. Free, unsubscribe in one click.

Prefer a lock-screen alert? The free iPhone app warns you when a burn ban is imposed or lifted where you are. Get the app →

Official source: epa.illinois.gov →

What the official source says
“Landscape waste may be burned on the premises where it is generated or at sites provided and supervised by a unit of local government, except within a county having a population of more than 400,000 and subject to any local restrictions.”

Read on Oct 28, 2026 from epa.illinois.gov. Quoted as published there; the summary above is LawLert’s plain-language reading of it.

Checked against the official source once on Oct 28, 2026. A check re-reads the source and tries to refute the published wording; when it fails, the wording is rewritten from the source and logged in Corrections.

Burn bans change week to week.Track burn bans in the free LawLert iPhone app and it alerts you when one is imposed or lifted where you live or where you are. No account.Get the app

Check the live restriction status: epa.illinois.gov →

General legal information, not legal advice — verify important decisions with a licensed attorney.

Current Fire Restrictions in states bordering Illinois

How each neighboring state LawLert has verified classifies the same rule, with its own official source and the date it was last checked. The wording is on that state’s page.

Don't get caught off guardCross into a state where this law is different and the free iPhone app tells you what changed, even with the app closed. It also alerts you when a law you track changes where you live. No account.Get the free app
Track this law — get alerted when it changes

We watch the official sources behind Illinois burn bans rules. If a tracked rule changes, you get one short email — never more than one a week. Free, unsubscribe anytime.

LawLert is an independent app, not affiliated with any government — informational only, not legal advice. Verify with a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.