How Far Should a Fire Pit Be From a House?
Two different code numbers apply depending on what kind of fire you are having, and one of them carries an exception that covers most backyards. Here is which is which.
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The International Fire Code puts a recreational fire at 25 feet from a structure or combustible material, and a manufactured portable outdoor fireplace at 15 feet — with an exception for portable outdoor fireplaces used at one- and two-family dwellings. Your local fire authority can set stricter figures and often does.
The clearance table
| From | Open wood fire (recreational) | Portable outdoor fireplace | Gas pit |
|---|---|---|---|
| House or structure | 25 ft | 15 ft, excepted at 1- and 2-family dwellings | Per the manual |
| Any combustible material | 25 ft | 15 ft | Per the manual |
| Wood fence | Combustible: 25 ft | Combustible: 15 ft | Per the manual |
| Masonry wall | Not combustible — no code figure | Same | Per the manual |
| Overhanging branches | No code figure — clear the canopy | Same | Same |
| Propane cylinder | No verifiable national figure | Same | The supplied hose length decides it |
| Overhead | Open sky | Open sky | Many manuals prohibit any structure above |
These are model-code defaults, and they are a floor rather than a permission. Local ordinances, campground rules and HOA covenants can all be stricter and all override this table.
Which number applies to you
This is the question the whole page turns on, and most content on the subject gets it wrong by giving a single figure. The code has two categories with two different distances, and which one your fire falls into depends on what it is burning in.
Read those together and the practical picture is clear. A fire in a ring or on the ground is a recreational fire: 25 feet. A manufactured pit with walls — a Solo Stove, a Breeo, a steel bowl, a chiminea — is a portable outdoor fireplace: 15 feet, and that requirement is excepted entirely at one- and two-family dwellings.
That exception is the single most misunderstood thing in this subject, and it explains why retailer content contradicts itself so freely. In a jurisdiction adopting the code as written, a manufactured fire pit at a normal single-family home is not subject to the 15 ft rule. It is still subject to the manufacturer's clearance instruction, and to whatever your local authority has amended or added.
What a code figure is and is not
The International Fire Code is a model code. It is written by a standards body and then adopted, jurisdiction by jurisdiction, often with local amendments, and interpreted by the local fire official. So the numbers above are the starting point almost everywhere and the final word nowhere.
Practically, that means two things. The figures here are the right ones to plan around. And before you set a heavy pit permanently, one phone call to your fire marshal's office settles it in about two minutes. What to ask, and who to ask.
The obstructions people ask about
A fence
A wood or vinyl fence is combustible material, so the same 25 ft or 15 ft figure applies to it as to a house. This surprises people, and it is the constraint that rules out a fire pit in a lot of small yards: a 25 ft radius from every fence line is more space than most suburban lots have. A masonry or metal fence is not combustible and is not covered by that language, though radiant heat can still damage a vinyl-coated or painted surface.
Trees
The code language covers combustible material generally rather than naming trees. In practice the risk is overhead: a live canopy above a fire dries out, and dead branches in it are ready fuel. There is no code figure we can quote for canopy clearance, so we are not going to invent one — clear the pit of anything overhanging it, and treat a dead branch above a fire as a hazard regardless of height.
A propane cylinder
We looked for a single national distance figure for a portable propane cylinder beside a fire pit and could not verify one. What governs in practice is the appliance manual and the length of the supplied hose, which is specified for that appliance. Use both, and do not extend the hose to move the cylinder further away — the hose and regulator are a rated set. Tanks, hoses and layout.
What to do if the clearance does not fit
- 1Measure first, honestly. Pace out the radius from the pit's intended spot to the nearest structure, fence and overhang. It is usually shorter than people expect.
- 2Change the category. A manufactured pit is a portable outdoor fireplace, not a recreational fire, and the numbers are different.
- 3Buy smaller. A smaller fire is a smaller clear radius, and it is often the difference between a legal pit and no pit. Small pits.
- 4Change the fuel. A gas pit follows its manual rather than the recreational-fire rule, and those distances are typically measured in feet rather than tens of feet.
- 5Ask the fire marshal. They deal with this daily and the answer is free.
Two pits for a tight clear radius
| # | Product | Best for | Key spec | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Solo StovePhoto via Amazon Solo Stove Ranger 2.015 in and 15 lb. The smallest fire that still reads as a fire pit rather than a camp stove, and the one that fits a patio where the clearance math rules out everything larger. | Small patios and travel | 304 stainless steel | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 | Outland LivingPhoto via Amazon Outland Living Firebowl 893 Deluxe58,000 BTU, CSA-certified, and the pit most often accepted where wood fires are not. The cover and carry kit are in the box, which is why this is the one to buy over the bare 823. | Burn bans and travel | 58,000 BTU/hr | Check price on Amazon |
Prices are pulled live from Amazon. Where no live price is showing, the button reads “check price” rather than a number we cannot stand behind.
Solo Stove Ranger 2.0
Solo Stove15 in and 15 lb. The smallest fire that still reads as a fire pit rather than a camp stove, and the one that fits a patio where the clearance math rules out everything larger.
15 in and 15 lb. The smallest fire that still reads as a fire pit rather than a camp stove, and the one that fits a patio where the clearance math rules out everything larger.
- One-hand carry, which is the whole argument for it
- Small enough that a workable clear radius is achievable on a real patio
- Same stainless and same warranty as the big units
- You will be feeding it constantly, because the chamber holds very little wood
- Radiant heat at this diameter warms two people, not six
- Requires cutting nearly all firewood down to size
A townhouse patio, a campsite where fires are allowed, or anyone who wants the smokeless burn without a 40 lb object to store.
You want the pit to be the heat source for a group. Buy diameter instead.
We have not burned this unit. These are the things a specification sheet cannot answer, listed rather than glossed over.
- How well secondary combustion holds at this small a chamber volume in wind
- Practical refuel interval, which no maker publishes for any pit in this category
#ad how we are funded · no live price right now
Outland Living Firebowl 893 Deluxe
Outland Living58,000 BTU, CSA-certified, and the pit most often accepted where wood fires are not. The cover and carry kit are in the box, which is why this is the one to buy over the bare 823.
58,000 BTU, CSA-certified, and the pit most often accepted where wood fires are not. The cover and carry kit are in the box, which is why this is the one to buy over the bare 823.
- CSA certification is the thing an HOA or a campground manager actually asks to see
- No embers, so it is the defensible choice under a covered patio and during most burn bans
- Shuts off instantly, which removes the entire put-it-out problem
- A 1-year warranty is the shortest in this whole registry
- A 20 lb tank has to live somewhere, and the hose length dictates where the pit can sit
- 58,000 BTU is a burner rating, not a measure of how warm you will feel
Anyone in a burn-ban county, on a covered patio, in an HOA, or towing it to a campsite.
You want the smell and the sound of a wood fire. A gas flame is not a substitute, and pretending otherwise wastes your money.
We have not burned this unit. These are the things a specification sheet cannot answer, listed rather than glossed over.
- Real-world runtime, which depends on how low you run the burner. Our figure is arithmetic at full output
- Long-run corrosion on the powder-coated bowl in coastal air
#ad how we are funded · no live price right now
- Every distance comes from the International Fire Code, quoted with its section number and linked.
- Manufacturer guidance is labeled separately, because a manual is a warranty condition rather than law.
- Picks are the two pits that suit a constrained clear radius — a small pit and a gas pit.
- What we did not do: measure heat at distance or test any clearance.
We have not burned any of these units, and we do not claim to have. The full method, including what it cannot tell you.
Clearance is only half the problem. What the pit sits on is a separate question with its own answers by surface — decks, grass, pavers and gravel and covered patios each behave differently.