Nova Scotia's fire season is over, but that doesn't mean you can burn with abandon. Here's what you need to know

Nova Scotia’s fire season ended Thursday and, with it, the daily updates to the provincial map indicating when you can burn.

However, that doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all when it comes to burning in the province. While the fire season is over, there are still regulations — many of them municipal — that affect what, how and where you can burn.

This year, 115 wildfires burned 1,524 hectares across Nova Scotia. That’s a long way from last year’s total of 8,848 hectares in 179 fires, including the Long Lake fire in West Dalhousie that burned more than 8,000 hectares and destroyed 20 homes.

A wet summer and regular rain this year made a big difference in the severity of fires.

The largest fire in 2026 was the Mooseland Road fire in the Halifax Regional Municipality in July that burned more than 1,400 hectares. The other fires averaged less than a hectare each.

On Monday, Kings County bylaw officers responded to a large illegal pile of burning garbage, furniture and other banned items. Here’s what you need to know about burning in Nova Scotia until the new fire season begins March 15.

As always, all that can be burned is brush, clean wood and not much else. Most municipalities have specific restrictions on what you can burn.

Obviously, garbage is not allowed to be burned anywhere. Also on the banned list: recyclables, including large amounts of paper; leaves; wood that has been pressure treated or painted; and anything else that is not clean wood or brush.

Municipalities set limits on how close you can have a fire to buildings, property lines and wood lines. The best advice is to check local open burning bylaws.

This may vary slightly from municipality to municipality. However, in densely populated communities, if burning is allowed at all it has to take place inside an approved fireproof container, such as a metal fire pit. There may be restrictions on what kind of material the pit can be on: usually it must be on something noncombustible like concrete blocks, patio stones, rocks or sand. Some municipalities will require the burning appliance be enclosed or have a spark arrester on top. In rural areas, a regular burn pile may be OK.

Yes. If you are in a rural area and don’t need a firepit, municipalities will still restrict burn piles to a certain size.

Most municipalities will require an adult be with the fire at all times, with sufficient means at hand to extinguish it if it starts to get out of control. These can include things such as machinery, water, hoses, fire extinguishers, shovels and so on. The fire must be completely out before it is left.

These bylaws are in effect 12 months a year.