Do you need a burn permit in Hamilton County, TN?
Yes, from October 1 to April 30, burning takes a Chattanooga-Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau permit. It costs $15 in the county, $75 inside five cities and $625 over two acres. Within 500 feet of woods or grass, add a free state forestry permit from October 15. Open burning is banned May 1 to September 30.
Burn season opened October 1. Rules can change from one season to the next, so confirm with the bureau at (423) 643-5970 before you burn.
This guide sums up what the agencies and cities publish, and it is not legal advice. Three Crosses Land Services does not burn brush piles for customers. We mulch standing brush where it grows, so no pile builds up, or we haul the brush pile off on the dump trailer.
Which Hamilton County burn permit do you need?
Where you live and how much you burn decide it. The bureau lists three permits, and the state adds a free one near woods or grass. County and city permits are for burning under two acres of brush per season.
| Permit | Where it applies | Fee | Inspection | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| County Burn Permit | Lakesite, Lookout Mountain, Signal Mountain, Soddy-Daisy, Walden and unincorporated Hamilton County | $15 | May be required, based on the application and burn site | Air Pollution Control Bureau |
| City Burn Permit | Inside Chattanooga, Collegedale, East Ridge, Red Bank or Ridgeside city limits | $75 | Required before the permit is issued | Air Pollution Control Bureau |
| Controlled Burn Permit | Burning more than two acres of material | $625 | Required | Air Pollution Control Bureau |
| Tennessee Division of Forestry permit | Within 500 feet of forest, woodland or grassland, October 15 to April 30 | Free | Issued online or by phone, good for one day | Tennessee Division of Forestry |
Inside the city limits of Chattanooga, Collegedale, East Ridge, Red Bank or Ridgeside, you need the $75 city permit. The bureau’s investigator inspects the burn site and the material before the permit is issued. Allow up to 7 business days.
Everywhere else in the county, including Signal Mountain, it is the $15 county permit. An inspection may be required there too, based on the application and the burn site.
Over two acres of material, you need the $625 controlled burn permit instead. It needs an inspection, and it must be issued before any burning starts. The $15 and $75 fees are non-refundable.
Applications are available September 15 to April 24 each year. Online applications that arrive after 4:00 p.m. are processed the next business day. Paying by credit card adds a 2.55% service fee.
When can you burn in Hamilton County?
From October 1 to April 30, on approved burning days, with a valid permit. Each permit expires April 30, so you need a new one every season.
From May 1 to September 30, open burning is banned throughout Hamilton County. The ban covers commercial and residential burning, including brush from land clearing on the property. Burn barrels are banned in those months too.
A pile from a June clearing job cannot be burned until October. In the meantime, it sits in the yard or leaves another way.
Hamilton County adopted the ban in 2004, after the EPA tightened air quality standards. It came in under the Chattanooga Area Early Action Compact. The bureau says restricting burning cuts summertime pollution by at least four tons per day.
Do you need a Tennessee forestry permit too?
Yes, if the fire sits within 500 feet of forest, woodland or grassland from October 15 to April 30. The bureau’s own permit conditions require it. The Tennessee Division of Forestry issues the permit, and it is free.
You can get one at BurnSafeTN.org or in the MyTN mobile app. Online permits are available 7 days a week, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. By phone, call 877-350-BURN (2876) on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central time.
A state permit is good for one day, so get it the day you burn. The state wants the fire out by midnight. The hours printed on your bureau permit apply as well.
The state’s own season runs October 15 to May 15. Stricter local rules supersede it, and Hamilton County’s burn season closes April 30. Leaf piles and woody debris like branches both need the state permit.
What can you burn, and what is never allowed?
The bureau limits burning to clean, raw, untreated, non-manufactured wood or natural vegetation. Pieces can be no more than 12 inches in diameter. A burn pile can be no larger than 8 by 8 by 8 feet.
Everything on the pile must come from the burn site address itself. A load trucked in from another lot is off limits. The bureau’s do-not-burn list includes these:
- Stumps
- Treated or painted wood, plywood and OSB
- Tires and PVC pipe
- Roofing, vinyl siding, insulation and sheet rock
- Plastics, paper, cardboard and household garbage
Garbage, trash, treated lumber, paper and cardboard are never legal to burn, in season or out. Stumps cannot go on the pile either, so stump grinding takes a stump below grade where it stands. The 12 inch limit rules out thicker logs, so those have to go another way.
What do you have to check on the day you burn?
Check the burning status every day you plan to burn, even with a permit in hand. The bureau sets that status from the air quality forecast. It also asks the Tennessee Division of Forestry whether conditions are safe to burn that day.
- Check the status after 8:30 a.m. Call the bureau’s information line or look it up at apcb.org.
- Contact your local fire department before you burn, every day.
- Burn only on an approved burning day, between the hours printed on your permit.
- Burn only when conditions are favorable and the smoke and ash will not create a nuisance.
- Stay with the fire the whole time, and keep the permit at the burn site.
- Have the fire completely out by the end time, with no smoldering after it. The bureau says not to use dirt to put it out.
- Within 500 feet of woods or grass, get that day’s state permit from October 15 on.
Do fire pits and campfires need a permit?
No. Fire pits, campfires, warming fires and ceremonial fires do not need a burn permit from the bureau. Recreational fires are also the only fires allowed in Hamilton County during the summer ban.
A recreational fire can be no larger than 3 feet wide by 2 feet high. It burns clean, seasoned wood or charcoal, and someone attends it the whole time. The bureau defines it as a fire for cooking, pleasure or ceremonial purposes.
A barrel or pit does not turn a brush pile into a campfire. The bureau’s FAQ asks if burning in a barrel or pit is okay without a permit. Its answer is no.
Inside Chattanooga, though, a ceremonial fire needs a permit from the Chattanooga Fire Marshal’s Department. The bureau says to call the Fire Marshal one week in advance to allow time for an inspection.
What happens if you burn without a permit?
You risk civil penalties from the bureau and criminal charges from the state. The bureau says burning during the summer ban could bring a civil penalty up to $25,000 per day, per occurrence. It also warns that breaking any of its permit conditions could bring civil penalties up to $25,000 per day.
State law adds criminal charges. Under TCA 39-14-306, a fire within 500 feet of forest, grassland or woodland needs a permit from the state forester. That rule runs October 15 to May 15, and burning without the permit is a Class C misdemeanor. The Division of Forestry also says leaving a fire unattended is a Class B misdemeanor.
What are the alternatives to burning a brush pile?
The bureau lists four alternatives: brush pickup in municipalities, chipping, piling and recycling. It also points residents toward composting and mulching yard waste.
City brush pickup. The bureau notes that the five city-permit cities offer free curbside pickup of leaves and yard waste. Each one draws its own lines.
- In Chattanooga, trucks sweep each area of the city on a rotating schedule. Wood can be no larger than 8 feet long, 18 inches in diameter and 4 feet high. The city will not collect land clearing, and contractors who perform land clearing do not qualify.
- In East Ridge, logs and branches over 6 inches in diameter must be cut into 18 inch sections.
- In Red Bank, brush cut by a contractor hired for work on private property is not picked up.
- In Collegedale, the city’s brush service covers tree trimmings, not trees cut down or removed.
The Wood Recycling Center. Chattanooga’s Wood Recycling Center is at 4063 North Hawthorne Street. City of Chattanooga residents drop off there at no charge in a standard pickup or a single-axle trailer. Non-city residents, businesses and contractors pay $20.00 per ton.
Mulching in place. Our drum mulcher rides on the mini skid steer and grinds standing brush and small trees down to chips. The chips are left spread on the ground, so there is no pile to burn.
Mulching is how our land clearing work opens up an overgrown lot. The machine fits a standard fence gate, which keeps a backyard pile in reach. Open fields need less. Brush clearing with the rotary cutter chops tall grass, briars and light brush down where it grows.
Hauling. Yard waste removal takes the pile off the property in any month of the year. Brush piles, cut limbs and leftover clearing piles all go on the dump trailer. Long limbs get cut to fit on the spot.
Getting a brush pile handled
Burning a pile takes a permit and a status check every burn day. Mulching or hauling can happen any month, summer included. The estimate is free, and it starts with someone looking at the pile and how a trailer gets to it.
Send the address and a photo or two of the pile. Mention anything mixed in, like stumps or old lumber, since those change the plan.
Three Crosses Land Services is a veteran-owned family business based just north of Chattanooga, TN. We are licensed and insured, and we cover Chattanooga, Southeast Tennessee, and Northwest Georgia. To get a brush pile loaded up and hauled away, call or text (423) 260-5675.