Burn permit
Active fire out of control, or any burn turning dangerous: call 911.
Getting the permit itself: it comes from the NC Forest Service’s online permit system, not the county — free, and it covers the whole state. It’s required for burning in or near woodland, generally daytime hours only. The state is explicit that a permit is a notification you plan to burn, not a guarantee it’s safe to.
Only natural vegetation, in its natural state, is legal to burn — state law bans burning building materials, tires, or trash, permitted or not.
Is burning allowed today, and what are the hours? That’s a local, day-of question the online system doesn’t answer — call the county Fire Marshal’s Office, part of Development Services below. Wind, drought, and active burn bans can all make a permitted day unsafe to actually burn.
What to expect: get the online permit first, then call the Fire Marshal’s Office if you’re unsure whether today’s conditions allow it — a permit in hand doesn’t override a burn ban.
Who to call
One office handles this.
Development Services
- Main: 828-452-6638
- Fire Marshal (burn permits, burn-day questions): 828-452-6717
157 Paragon Parkway, Suite 200, Clyde, NC 28721
The county doesn't have a standalone "Code Enforcement" office — Development Services handles building inspections, permits, planning, and zoning/erosion-control enforcement (fax 828-452-6791). Separately, the county's public-nuisance ordinance — Chapter 159, Public Health and Solid Waste Awareness and Compliance — is enforced by Environmental Health working in conjunction with the Planning Department and the Sheriff's Office, and it applies only in the unincorporated areas of the county. It covers accumulation of trash, objects that hold water and breed mosquitoes, and rodent harborages; the county's stated goal is voluntary compliance, with court action only when that fails. For nuisance calls, see Haywood County Environmental Health — the enforcing division, at the same Paragon Parkway campus, with its own direct line. Note that the county's Code Enforcement page itself lists only the agency-wide Health & Human Services front desk, which is the number carried under Haywood County Public Health: https://www.haywoodcountync.gov/456/Code-Enforcement. The county's Fire Marshal's Office is also organized under Development Services (site breadcrumb: Development Services > Building Inspections > Fire Marshal) — it handles burning-permit questions, whether burning is allowed on a given day, and burn bans; the actual permit itself is issued by the NC Forest Service's online system, not this office.
Related questions
Every office on one page
It happens: you call, and it turns out to be someone else's job. The cheat sheet puts every number on this site in one place, grouped by who runs it, so the next one to try is right there.