Lewis and Clark County closes debris burning for summer fire season
Open debris burning shut off at 12:01 a.m. July 1, forcing Helena-area owners to haul, chip or compost brush piles instead of lighting them.
Lewis and Clark County shut off open debris burning at 12:01 a.m. July 1, closing the quickest route for residents and small businesses that were planning to clear brush, branches and other organic debris by fire. Sheriff Leo Dutton ordered the closure as fire warden after consulting the Rural Fire Council, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. The closure was intended to cut human-caused fires during the hottest part of the year. The restriction can be reconsidered if weather changes, and no broader fire restrictions were in place at the time.
The county distinguished debris burning from recreational fires, so the July 1 closure did not automatically shut down lawful campfires or backyard fire pits. Burn permits still run from January 1 through December 31, and residents can buy or renew them beginning January 1. Outside Helena city limits, open burning is legal with a permit on private property. Inside Helena city limits, permits are limited to official fuel-mitigation work by agencies, and residents need to dispose of fire fuel through means other than burning.
The local disposal network remains open for yard waste. The City of Helena Transfer Station at 1975 N Benton Ave handles residential and commercial garbage disposal and permitting, while county solid waste also oversees the Lewis and Clark County Landfill, the Marysville Transfer Site and Augusta. At the transfer station, green waste is chipped and turned into compost, and that compost is sold at the county landfill for $60 a ton.
County resolution language cites Montana law that makes unauthorized burning during fire season a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine, up to six months in jail or both, and the county used the same July 1 debris-burning closure in 2025 as dry grass and limited firefighting resources tightened the risk. Private brush-chipping and debris-removal crews in Helena are also advertising hauling and chipping services.
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