BurnAtlasBurnAtlasBurn Ban Map

Terms of Use — Burn Ban Data, API and Widget

Effective 3 September 2026

1. What this covers

These terms govern your use of the free burn ban data published by Bright Ideas LLC., a Georgia limited liability company doing business as BurnAtlas ("BurnAtlas", "we", "us") at burnatlas.org, including the Burn Ban Map, the public burn ban API, and the embeddable burn ban widget (together, the "Free Data Services").

These terms apply to you whether you read the data on our site, pull it through the API, or display it on your own site through the widget. If you also hold a paid BurnAtlas subscription, our subscriber terms govern that subscription separately and these terms govern the Free Data Services.

By requesting an API key, embedding the widget, or otherwise using the Free Data Services, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use them.

2. Definitions

Burn Ban Data means the burn ban and outdoor burning restriction information we publish, including status, restriction level, effective dates, source attribution and verification timestamps.

Partner means any person or organization that displays or redistributes Burn Ban Data through the API or the widget.

End User means anyone who views Burn Ban Data, whether on our site or on a Partner's.

3. Your license to use the data

Subject to these terms, we grant you a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, revocable license to access, display and redistribute Burn Ban Data.

Commercial use is permitted. News organizations, weather services, apps, insurers and businesses of any kind may use the Free Data Services on the same terms as government agencies and nonprofits, at no charge.

This license is revocable at any time, with or without cause, as described in Section 10. It does not transfer ownership of anything, and it does not grant rights to our name, logo, trademarks, site design, burn score algorithm, forecasts, or any other BurnAtlas content or service.

4. Attribution is required

Every display of Burn Ban Data must carry visible attribution to BurnAtlas.

  • The attribution must read "Powered by BurnAtlas" and must link to https://burnatlas.org.
  • The link must be a standard, followable HTML link. It must not carry rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", or any other attribute that instructs search engines to disregard it.
  • The attribution must appear in your own page's markup, visible to an ordinary reader, adjacent to the data it credits. Attribution placed only inside an embedded frame, hidden by CSS, collapsed behind an interaction, or moved to a separate page does not satisfy this section.
  • You must not alter the attribution wording, substitute your own anchor text, or add keywords to it.

Removing, obscuring, or modifying the attribution terminates your license immediately under Section 10.

5. Acceptable use

You may not:

  • present Burn Ban Data as your own original reporting or data collection;
  • state or imply that BurnAtlas endorses you, your organization, or your product;
  • modify Burn Ban Data in a way that changes its meaning, including altering a status, removing a verification timestamp, or presenting stale data as current;
  • strip, hide, or contradict the accuracy disclaimer in Section 7;
  • use the data in any product that advises or encourages burning in violation of applicable law;
  • share, resell, sublicense or publish your API key, or use a key issued to another person;
  • circumvent rate limits, run automated bulk collection outside the API, or scrape our site; or
  • use the Free Data Services in a way that degrades service for others.

6. API keys and fair use

API keys are issued free of charge against a name and email address. One key per person or organization. You are responsible for all activity under your key and must tell us promptly if it is compromised.

We apply rate limits to keep the service available to everyone and may adjust them at any time. If your usage imposes a disproportionate cost on us, we may throttle it, ask you to reduce it, or contact you about a separate arrangement. We will make reasonable efforts to reach you before cutting off a good-faith Partner.

We use the name and email you provide to administer keys, contact you about service changes, and reach you if a source problem affects data you are displaying. Our privacy policy at burnatlas.org/privacy governs that information.

7. Accuracy disclaimer — read this

Burn Ban Data is informational only. It is not a permit, not an authorization to burn, and not legal advice. Always confirm with your local fire authority before you light anything.

You must understand and accept all of the following:

  • We are not a government agency. BurnAtlas does not issue permits, does not enact or lift burn bans, and has no authority over outdoor burning anywhere. We aggregate information published by others.
  • The data comes from third-party sources. We read it from state forestry agencies, county authorities and other official sources. We do not control those sources and are not responsible for errors, omissions, outages or changes in them.
  • It may be out of date. Burn bans can be enacted or lifted at any hour, including outside the times we check. A record's verification timestamp shows when we last confirmed it, not that it is correct now.
  • It may be incomplete. Coverage varies by state and county. Cities, fire districts, homeowner associations, air quality districts and other authorities frequently impose additional or stricter rules that our data does not reflect. The absence of a ban in our data does not mean burning is lawful where you are.
  • Conditions change. Weather, drought and fuel conditions can make burning dangerous even where it is legal, and legality is not a judgment about safety.

You are solely responsible for confirming the rules that apply to your location and for the safety and legality of any burn you conduct. Contact your county fire marshal, local fire department or state forestry agency before burning.

8. No warranty

The Free Data Services are provided "as is" and "as available", with all faults and without warranty of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express, implied and statutory, including any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, completeness, currency, non-infringement, and any warranty arising from course of dealing or usage of trade.

We do not warrant that the Free Data Services will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free, or that any defect will be corrected. We may change, suspend or discontinue any part of them at any time without notice.

9. Limitation of liability and indemnity

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Bright Ideas LLC. and its officers, members, employees and contractors will not be liable for any loss or damage arising out of or relating to the Free Data Services, including loss or damage arising from fire, wildfire, smoke, property damage, crop or timber loss, personal injury, death, regulatory fines, criminal penalties, business interruption, lost profits, or loss of data, whether the claim is brought in contract, tort, negligence, strict liability, or any other theory, and whether or not we were advised of the possibility of such loss.

Our total aggregate liability for all claims relating to the Free Data Services will not exceed one hundred United States dollars (US $100). You acknowledge that the Free Data Services are provided at no charge and that this allocation of risk is a fundamental basis of these terms.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation of liability for personal injury or for gross negligence or willful misconduct. Where that law applies, these exclusions and limitations apply only to the extent permitted.

Indemnity. If you are a Partner, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Bright Ideas LLC. from any claim, demand, loss, liability, fine or expense, including reasonable legal fees, arising from your display or redistribution of Burn Ban Data, your breach of these terms, or any claim brought by your End Users relating to data you displayed.

10. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Free Data Services, revoke your API key, or disable your widget, at any time and without notice, including if you breach these terms, remove or alter the required attribution, place unreasonable load on the service, or use the data in a way we consider misleading or unsafe.

You may stop using the Free Data Services at any time. On termination, you must remove the widget and stop displaying Burn Ban Data within five business days, though you may keep archived copies of pages that were accurate when published.

Sections 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 survive termination.

11. Changes to these terms

We may revise these terms. We will post the revised version with a new effective date and, for material changes affecting Partners, email the address on file for your API key at least fourteen days before the change takes effect. Continuing to use the Free Data Services after the effective date means you accept the revision.

12. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Georgia, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these terms or the Free Data Services will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Houston County, Georgia, and you consent to that jurisdiction and venue.

13. General

These terms are the entire agreement between you and Bright Ideas LLC. regarding the Free Data Services. If any provision is held unenforceable, the rest remains in force. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. You may not assign these terms without our written consent.

14. Contact

Bright Ideas LLC. (doing business as BurnAtlas)
770 Hwy 96, STE 215 #38
Bonaire, GA 31005
admin@burnatlas.org