Burning Brush in West Virginia: When It’s Legal

In West Virginia you can burn brush any day of the year that isn’t covered by a burn ban, but from October 1 through December 31 and again from March 1 through May 31 the law restricts you to the hours between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. Those two windows are the state’s forest fire seasons, and during them a daytime brush fire is illegal even if the woods are soaking wet.

The other rules apply all year. Vegetative material only, a cleared safety strip around the pile, and somebody staying with the fire until it’s dead out. If you’re reading this in late summer with a brush pile already stacked, you have until the end of September to burn it in the middle of the day.

What’s in this guide

• What are West Virginia’s forest fire seasons?
• What hours can you burn brush during fire season?
• Can you burn brush outside of fire season?
• What can you legally burn?
• What safety rules apply to the pile itself?
• How do you find out if there’s a burn ban?
• What happens if your fire gets away?
• When is the smartest time to burn a brush pile?
• Frequently asked questions

What are West Virginia’s forest fire seasons?

West Virginia sets two forest fire seasons each year: spring runs March 1 through May 31, and fall runs October 1 through December 31. Those dates come from state code and they don’t move around based on weather.

The reason for the timing is fuel, not temperature. In spring, last year’s leaf litter and dead grass are cured out and haven’t greened up yet. In fall, a fresh layer of dry leaves hits the ground right as humidity drops and the wind picks up.

People are often surprised that October is more dangerous than August. A green summer forest holds moisture. An October ridge covered in crisp oak leaves will carry fire uphill faster than you can walk.

What hours can you burn brush during fire season?

During both fire seasons, outdoor burning is permitted only between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. The fire has to be out, all the way out, by 7 in the morning. That means no smoldering edges, no hot coals under the ash.

The logic behind the window is straightforward. Relative humidity climbs overnight, wind usually lays down after sundown, and dew settles on the leaf litter. All three things work in your favor.

It also means that if you start a big pile at 9 p.m., you have signed up to be there at 6 a.m. with a rake and a hose. Size your pile to the hours you’re willing to stay awake.

Some years the Legislature adjusts details of the burning law, so before your first fall burn it’s worth pulling up the current rules from the West Virginia Division of Forestry. They post the seasons and hours plainly, and they’re the ones who answer the phone when a fire gets loose.

Can you burn brush outside of fire season?

Yes. From June 1 through September 30, and again from January 1 through the end of February, the 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. restriction is not in effect and you can burn during daylight hours.

That doesn’t make it a free-for-all. The state Department of Environmental Protection’s open burning rule still governs what you’re allowed to put on the fire, and it applies every day of the year. Cities and towns frequently go further than the state, and plenty of municipalities in West Virginia prohibit open burning inside city limits entirely or require a permit from the fire department.

Call your local fire department or town hall once and write down the answer. It’s a five minute phone call that settles the question for good.

What can you legally burn?

Vegetative material that grew on your own property: limbs, brush, leaves, grass, garden waste, and storm debris. That’s the short version and it covers most of what people are actually trying to get rid of.

What you cannot burn is a longer list. Household trash, plastics, tires, rubber, treated or painted lumber, shingles, insulation, furniture, carpet, oil, and anything else that produces black smoke or toxic fumes. Burning that material is a violation regardless of the season or the hour.

Fall cleanup makes this tempting. You’re clearing out multiflora rose and greenbrier with a good pair of loppers built for brambles, the trailer’s already backed up to the burn spot, and there’s a pile of old fence board sitting right there. Haul the treated wood to the landfill instead.

What safety rules apply to the pile itself?

State law requires you to clear a safety strip of at least ten feet of bare ground all the way around the material you’re burning, and to stay with the fire until it’s out. Those two requirements are where most citations come from, and they’re also the two things that prevent most escaped fires.

Bare ground means bare. Raking leaves aside isn’t enough if there’s a mat of duff and dry grass underneath. Scrape it down to mineral soil so there’s nothing for a creeping edge to grab.

Pick your spot with an eye toward what’s above and downhill. Fire climbs, so a pile at the bottom of a steep bank next to a stand of pine is a bad plan even on a damp evening. Keep it clear of overhead limbs, power lines, fence lines, and anything with a roof.

Keep water and a rake or shovel within arm’s reach the whole time. If you’ve got the hillside sod and rock most of us deal with, a tool that stands up to abuse is worth having anyway, and our notes on what survives West Virginia’s rocky clay apply here too.

How do you find out if there’s a burn ban?

Check with the Division of Forestry, your county emergency services office, or your local fire department. During dry stretches the Governor can issue a statewide burning ban, and counties issue their own restrictions more often than people realize.

A ban overrides everything in this guide. It doesn’t matter that it’s July, that you’re inside the legal hours, or that you cleared a perfect safety strip. If a ban is on, don’t light it.

The other check to make is the forecast. Wind speed matters far more than temperature, and a gusty day after three dry weeks is when brush piles turn into wildfires. If the flags are standing straight out, wait.

What happens if your fire gets away?

Burning outside the legal hours during fire season is a misdemeanor, and each day counts as a separate offense. On top of the fine, if your fire escapes you are liable for the cost of suppressing it and for the damage it does to somebody else’s property.

That second part is the one worth sitting with. Suppression costs on a fire that runs a few hundred acres of steep timber are not a small number, and the timber value your neighbor lost is on you.

Nobody who has ever caused a wildfire meant to. They stepped inside for a few minutes, or figured the pile had burned down enough, or didn’t notice the wind shift at dusk.

When is the smartest time to burn a brush pile?

The best conditions are a still, damp evening a day or two after rain, ideally in winter when the ground is wet or there’s snow on the north slopes. January and February give you daylight hours plus wet ground, which is about as forgiving as it gets in this state.

Late summer is the other practical window, and it’s the one in front of you right now. Through September 30 you can burn during the day, which beats standing in a field at midnight in November. Just watch the drought conditions, because a dry August is its own kind of dangerous.

If you’re already doing fall cleanup, stack the burn into the same weekend as everything else. Most folks are out there anyway putting in fall garden beds, and October is when the garlic goes in the ground. One pass through the property, everything handled.

And if the goal is really just a fire to sit around rather than debris to get rid of, that’s a different problem with a different solution. A contained pit skips the legal question entirely, and we’ve rounded up smokeless fire pits worth the money if that’s the direction you’re headed. You can also browse what’s currently marked down over on the deals page.

Frequently asked questions

The rule that trips people up is the calendar, not the fire itself. Somebody who has burned brush at noon all summer without a second thought lights the same pile on October 3 and has broken the law. Mark the two seasons on whatever calendar you actually look at and the rest takes care of itself.

Then burn like the fire is going to try to get away from you, because sooner or later one will. Wet ground, no wind, bare dirt all the way around, water at your feet, and nobody goes to bed until it’s cold to the touch.