Put six things on one page: who needs a permit, who does not, what you may not burn, what to bring or fill out, the conditions of the burn, and a person to call. Your state or county sets the rules, so state yours in your own words and link the source. Do not copy another town's numbers.
Start with the question people actually type
Nobody searches for "open burning ordinance." They type "do I need a permit to burn brush" or "burn permit" and the name of the town. So call the page "Burn permits" and open it with one plain line: when you need one and when you do not. The legal name of the ordinance can sit lower down, for the people who want to read it.
A real example, so you can see the shape
The City of Madison, Wisconsin, is a large department with a lot of staff, so your page will be shorter. Still, its burn permit page is a good model for what to cover, because it answers the questions residents really have. As read on October 12, 2026, it says:
- A permit is needed for any outdoor burning, including bonfires and ceremonial fires.
- A permit is not needed for cooking-only fires, campfires in designated campgrounds, or fires in approved outdoor fireplaces or firepits.
- Trash, brush, leaves, yard waste and construction debris may not be burned, and the page lists drop-off sites for them.
- You apply at least 30 days ahead, the fee is $50, and you send in a form, a site plan (hand drawn is fine), a written burn plan, and proof of ownership or the owner's written permission.
- The conditions run from distance to buildings to weather: no burning when the state's fire danger rating is high or above, and people and extinguishing equipment stay until the fire is out.
- There is an office address, a phone number, an email and office hours.
Those numbers are Madison's. Yours will be different, and in many places the state forestry agency or the county issues the permit, not the fire department. Say which it is.
The six parts of the page
| Part | What it answers |
|---|---|
| 1. Do I need one? | A yes or no in the first two lines, and the short list of fires that are exempt. |
| 2. What I cannot burn | The materials your rules ban. People hunt for this one more than any other. |
| 3. Who issues it | Your department, the county, or the state. Link the agency's own page. |
| 4. How to apply | The form as a download or an online form, the fee, how long it takes, and what to attach. |
| 5. The conditions | Distance, size, weather and who has to stay with the fire. Copy these from your ordinance, not from memory. |
| 6. Who to call | One named phone number and the hours someone answers. Add the line "If it is an emergency, call 911." |
The day-of check people forget
A permit is not permission to burn on every day. Madison's page ties burning to the state's fire danger rating and to air quality on the day. If your rules do the same, say where to check. A link to the state's current fire danger or burn restriction page on your burn permit page is worth more than a paragraph of warnings, because it changes daily and your page does not.
If you post a burn ban, put it at the top of the burn page and the homepage, as typed text and not only as a picture of a sign. A banner that screen readers cannot read leaves part of your town not knowing about it.
Keep the form usable
If the application is a PDF, make sure it is a real PDF with text in it, not a photo of a paper form. A scan cannot be read aloud by a screen reader, cannot be searched, and is hard to read on a phone. Link it with words that say what it is: "Download the burn permit application (PDF)", not "click here". Google's own link guidance asks for link text that is descriptive and relevant to the page it points to, and it is the same thing a screen reader user needs when the links are read out as a list.
Do this this week
- Find out who really issues burn permits in your area, and write that down.
- Read your ordinance or state rule and copy the banned materials and the conditions into plain sentences.
- Make or fix one page called "Burn permits" with the six parts above.
- Link the form with descriptive words and check that the PDF has real text.
- Link the state or county page that shows the burn restriction for today.
- Put the page in your main menu, and link it from your Facebook page.
Why I am writing this
I build websites for fire departments, so I would like you to have a good one. A burn permit page does not need me. Any page you can edit will do. If your site is hard to edit or nobody has the login, that is the gap I fill. For a related page that answers a question residents ask, see what your ISO fire rating means for a small department.