Know before you burn! The following are some important highlights for outdoor burning in Missoula County:
General Outdoor Burning (“Open Burning”) is typically from March 1 to August 31 each year. When there are unusually dry weather conditions, the burning season can and will be closed early.
- There is a $7.00 annual fee for an outdoor burn permit. During the burn season, you are welcome to stop in at any of our fire stations to purchase a burn permit; or, simply go online at app.egovmt.com/burnpermit. Remember, outdoor burn permits are for natural and untreated vegetation only.
- Once you have purchased your burn permit, don’t forget to activate your permit on the day that you are going to burn. You can activate it at the same website (app.egovmt.com/burnpermit) or on your touch-tone phone at: 1-888-583-6497. You will need your burn permit number to activate your permit for the day.
- You must have a paper copy of the permit with you at the fire. In fact, Missoula County recommends that you make a couple of copies of your burn permit, so that you can have a clean copy at home. In addition, ensure that someone is with your fire at all times!
- The hours of burning are from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Please use caution with the size of your burn piles, as you want to have a pile that can burn down within about six hours. Sometimes, it is better to burn a small pile each day, then to try to rush to have a big fire out by 4:00 pm.