Burn bans in Wisconsin

No county-level burn ban is currently reported by Wisconsin DNR — WisBURN daily burning restrictions for Wisconsin. Municipal rules within a county may still apply.

Wisconsin does not issue a single standing statewide burn ban. In much of the state, the DNR requires an annual burning permit for debris, brush, and grass fires; each county's status is re-evaluated daily based on fire danger and can change from hour to hour. When conditions are severe, DNR suspends burning permits for affected counties rather than declaring a ban by name — burning without a valid permit, or in violation of a suspension, is a punishable offense either way. Where the DNR does not regulate (mainly southern and incorporated areas), local fire departments, town chairpersons, or municipalities set their own burning rules instead.

Bans are issued by county officials and typically stay in effect until conditions improve or the order expires. Some counties set explicit expiration dates; others leave a ban open-ended until lifted. Check each county's page for the expiration listed on the current order.

Burning without a required DNR permit, or burning in violation of a permit suspension, is punishable by a forfeiture under Wisconsin Statute § 26.12 — a civil penalty, not a criminal one. The exact current dollar amount could not be verified: the Wisconsin Legislature's own statute site (docs.legis.wisconsin.gov) was not reachable from this build environment, and no secondary source stated a current figure with confidence, so no number is shown rather than an invented one. Beyond any forfeiture, anyone whose fire escapes and causes a wildfire is separately liable for the cost of suppression and any property damage.