Forest-fire danger and fire ban: what is the difference?
On feuerinfo.ch every place shows three values: the forest-fire danger, the federal measure level and the locally applicable measure level. They are related but do not mean the same thing. This page explains who sets what, what the levels mean and how they add up to the answer to "may I make a fire here?".
The forest-fire danger: an assessment of the risk
The forest-fire danger is published by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) together with the federal research institute WSL on waldbrandgefahr.ch – for 143 warning regions in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, in five levels. It describes how easily a fire can start and spread: weather, dryness of the vegetation, wind and the forecast for the coming days all feed into it.
The danger level is an assessment, not an order. It tells you how careful you have to be – by itself it bans nothing. From level 4 the sparks of a barbecue can already start a fire; at level 5 a fire is possible at any time and almost impossible to put out.
- Level 1 – low
- Level 2 – moderate
- Level 3 – considerable
- Level 4 – high
- Level 5 – very high
The fire ban: an order by the authorities
The Confederation warns – the cantons impose the bans. Depending on the canton, the cantonal government, an office, the prefect of an administrative district or the municipality decides. These orders are reported to the Confederation as measure level 1 to 5 and shown on the federal map.
The usual sequence is: no measures → warning → fire ban in and near the forest → absolute open-air fire ban. Cantons handle it differently: Bern has a five-step variant with a "conditional" ban, Ticino knows practically only "normal" or "divieto assoluto", Valais works with its own scale. A ban usually follows from danger level 4, but can – depending on the canton and the weather – come earlier or later.
"Near the forest" means 50 metres from the forest edge in most cantons; for fireworks often 200 metres.
- Measure level 1 – no measures in force
- Measure level 2 – warning to handle fire carefully in and near the forest
- Measure level 3 – conditional fire ban: fires only at fixed, established fireplaces
- Measure level 4 – absolute fire ban in and near the forest
- Measure level 5 – absolute open-air fire ban
Why the two levels can diverge
Because the danger is measured while the ban is decreed, the two values do not always match. Typical cases: the danger rises to 4 but the canton has not yet issued an order – then the measure level still reads 2 and you should nevertheless behave as if a ban applied. Or the danger drops to 3 after rain, but the ban stays in force until the authority lifts it. Or a canton lifts the ban only for some regions, like Bern for individual administrative districts or Graubünden for individual regions.
Beware of the word "level" in cantonal announcements: "level 3" there almost always means the danger level "considerable", not measure level 3. feuerinfo.ch therefore shows both values separately – for the question of what is allowed, the measure level counts.
Confederation, canton, region, municipality: who decides where?
The rules stack from broad to narrow: Switzerland (federal law, e.g. for distress flares), canton (canton-wide order), fire region (cantons like Bern, Graubünden, St. Gallen or Valais decree per region or district) and municipality (cities like Zurich or Winterthur issue their own additional bans, e.g. for fireworks). If a narrower rule applies to a place, it takes precedence – the municipality before the region, the region before the canton.
feuerinfo.ch shows for every answer which level determined it ("Decided by: canton of Bern", "municipality of Zurich"). Example Zurich: the canton reports the measure level for the whole warning region, the city of Zurich can additionally impose a municipal fireworks ban – within the city both apply.
What does this mean for barbecue, campfire and fireworks?
Not every fire is the same. Cantonal orders distinguish along four axes: the fuel (gas and electric grills are often exempt because no sparks fly – charcoal and open fire are what gets restricted), the place (in and near the forest or outside, on private ground), the purpose (only Ticino has an explicit cooking exemption) and the conduct (supervision, non-combustible ground, little smoke).
That is why feuerinfo.ch answers per activity: allowed, with conditions or banned – each with the quote from the order and the link to the source. Exemptions differ by canton: Basel-Landschaft and Jura also ban gas grills under an absolute ban, Bern exempts only butcher-grade and professional gas grills, Graubünden bans sky lanterns all year round, and fireworks are off-limits from measure level 4 near the forest and from level 5 canton-wide – sometimes with municipal exceptions for official displays.
Where the information comes from – and what is binding
The danger and measure levels come from the Confederation's geodata. The bans, exemptions and notices come from the cantonal and municipal orders, press releases, official gazettes and newsletters that feuerinfo.ch checks several times a day. Every statement links to its source.
Only the official publications of the Confederation, the cantons and the municipalities are binding. When in doubt: ask the municipality or the fire brigade. In an emergency: fire brigade 118.
All data sources of feuerinfo.ch · waldbrandgefahr.ch – federal danger levels
Practical rules of thumb
If you are not sure, these rules help:
- From danger level 4: no open fire in or near the forest – even if no ban has been decreed yet.
- "Fire ban in and near the forest" usually means 50 metres from the forest edge; for fireworks often 200 metres.
- "Absolute open-air fire ban" also applies in your own garden; whether the gas grill stays allowed is up to the canton.
- Never leave a fire unattended, skip it in wind, put embers out completely.
- On site, always check the current publication of the canton or municipality.
Updated: 2026-08-21
All information is provided without guarantee. Only the official federal, cantonal and regional publications are binding.