Can I burn yard debris or a brush pile at my house in the Tri-Cities?

Before lighting any outdoor fire, check the day’s burn decision with the Benton Clean Air Authority, which covers Benton and Franklin counties. The agency announces whether burning is allowed each morning, and the rules depend on where your property sits.

• No permit is needed for a recreational fire smaller than 3 feet across and 2 feet tall, or for burning tumbleweeds that blew onto your property.
• Outside the Urban Growth Area, on an approved burn day, you can burn one dry natural-vegetation pile at a time, up to 4x4x3 feet.
• Inside the Urban Growth Area, only tumbleweeds, seasoned-firewood recreational fires, barbecues and woodstoves are allowed. Burn barrels and yard-debris burning are prohibited.
• Garbage, plastics, treated wood and construction debris can never be burned anywhere.
• Burning is barred when forecast winds top 20 mph.

Check today’s burn status at bentoncleanair.org or call the Residential Burn Line at 509-783-6198. Larger piles require a paid burn permit from the Clean Air Authority.