News Release

2023 Southern Nevada Fire Restrictions Announced

Date: July 13, 2023

LAS VEGAS – The Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Clark County, Moapa Valley Fire Protection District, Mt. Charleston Fire Protection District, National Park Service, Nevada Division of Forestry, Nye County, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service have implemented fire restrictions in Southern Nevada.

Interagency fire restrictions prohibit:

• Building, maintaining, attending, or using a fire (using wood, charcoal or any other material), campfire, or stove fire, except a portable stove using gas, jellied petroleum, or pressurized liquid fuel outside of a developed fee campground or picnic area (except by permit).
• Smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site, or when stopped in an area at least 3 feet in diameter that is barren or cleared; of all flammable material.
• Operating or parking a vehicle or other motorized equipment over or on top of dried/cured vegetation.
• Welding, metal grinding, or operating an acetylene or other torch with open flame (except by permit).

Recommended Actions:

• Have a shovel, fire extinguisher and/or at least 5 gallons of water on hand in the event of an unintentional fire start.
• Utilize nevadafireinfo.org to obtain information on fire activity and additional restrictions.

The following persons are exempt from this order:

• Persons with a written permit that specifically authorizes the otherwise prohibited act.
• Persons using a fire solely fueled by liquid petroleum or LPG fuels. Such devices, including propane campfires, may be used only in an area cleared of flammable material.
• Private landowners using charcoal (disposed of properly) or propane barbecues on their own lands.
• Persons conducting activities in those designated areas where the activity is specifically authorized by written posted notice.
• Any federal, state, or local officer, or member of an organized rescue or firefighting force, in the performance of an official duty.

This Fire Prevention Order is effective 12:01 a.m., on July 14, 2023, and will remain in effect until December 31, 2023, unless rescinded.

Agency-specific exceptions/exemptions and additional restrictions are also in place:

Bureau of Land Management, Southern Nevada District Year-Round Fire Restrictions

• Possessing, discharging, using, or allowing the use of fireworks, pyrotechnic or incendiary devices.
• Possessing, discharging, igniting, or causing to burn; explosives or explosive material, including binary explosive targets.
• Discharging a firearm using tracer, incendiary, or steel-component ammunition. (Use of tracer or incendiary ammunition are always prohibited on public lands).
• Operating or using any internal or external combustion engine without a spark arresting devise properly installed, maintained and in effective working order. (43 CFR 8343.1(c)).

Clark County

Clark County allows: 

• Small fires for religious or ceremonial purposes, cooking, and warmth of human beings provided they don't become a public nuisance.
• Outside the Las Vegas Valley, when such fire is set on a field used for growing crops in the course of disposing of unused portions of a crop and intermingled weeds resulting from an agriculture operation.
• Domestic burning of material originating on premises, exclusive of garbage, at a property used exclusively as a private residence or dwelling where there is no collection service available for such material.
• Any burning so permitted must be controlled so that public nuisance or traffic hazards are not created as a result of the air contaminants being emitted.

National Parks Service

Lake Mead National Recreation Area

• Wood or charcoal fires allowed in grills of developed picnic areas and campgrounds where a host is present.
• Wood or charcoal burning devices allowed on the shoreline where natural vegetation is at least 100 feet from the shoreline.
• Barbecue grills allowed on private boats outside the harbors of Lake Mead and Lake Mohave. Rental boats are authorized to use barbecues attached to vessel if allowed under rental boat agreement. All vessel barbecue fires must be at least 100 feet away from shoreline vegetation.
• Smoking is allowed outside of an enclosed vehicle in areas that are cleared of all flammable material for at least three feet. Cigarettes must be discarded in a car ashtray or an ashtray in a developed area.

Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument

• Fires are never permitted in the monument.

Nevada Division of Forestry

• In Nevada state parks, park staff may or may not allow campfires on a day-to-day basis based on current local weather conditions. During Red Flag Warning issuances or other weather events, park staff may post signage stating that campfires are not allowed.

Nye County

• No discharging of fireworks, pyrotechnics, or incendiary devices. 

Pahrump, NV only:

• Property owners must obtain a burn permit during burn season at 300 North Highway 160, Pahrump, NV.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Desert National Wildlife Refuge

• While fire restrictions are in effect, fires are not allowed anywhere on the Desert National Wildlife Refuge outside of the Desert Pass Campground.
• Use of the fire rings at the Desert Pass campground is required while restrictions are in force. No rock rings or ground fires are allowed.

Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge

• Visitors are required to use grills or the provided fire rings. No rock rings or ground fires are allowed.

U.S. Forest Service

• Campfires are only allowed within the approved fire pits or grills provided in developed recreation sites. A developed recreation site has Forest Service signage that designates it as an agency-owned campground or day use area and is identified on a Forest Service map as a site developed for that purpose.
• Operating a chainsaw or other equipment powered by an internal combustion engine between 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. is prohibited during fire restrictions.
• Outdoor smoking is only authorized while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter that is clear of all flammable materials.
• To find out what fire restrictions are in place on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, visit https://bit.ly/HTNFFireRestrictions or www.nevadafireinfo.org. For answers to frequently asked questions about fire restrictions, visit https://bit.ly/FireRestrictionsFAQs.

 

The public is urged to contact the local U.S. Forest Service office at [phone], U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at [phone], National Park Service at [phone], Bureau of Land Management at (702) 515- 5000, or visit nevadafireinfo.org if they have any questions.