This information is specific to Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District (NSCAPCD) which is the air quality jurisdiction for Northern Sonoma County Fire Protection District. 

Step 1 - Build the Pile 

1. Make sure brush, limbs, and leaves have cured for at least 60 days. The more it cures, the cleaner and more efficient (quicker) it burns.
2. Place the largest logs on the bottom; small sticks, dry leaves and brush in the center to create an easily combustible nest; and lots of medium-sized logs and branches on top.
3. The legal “home burner” pile size is 4 feet in diameter and 4 feet tall. You can add to this as it burns down.
4. Build piles on the flattest ground possible. If you must build on a hill, dig a “roll out” trench just below it, so that hot coals or logs will be caught before rolling downhill.
5. Place your piles at least 15 feet from any structures.
6. Clear dead and dry vegetation, including grass, around the pile. Place your piles away from the base of trees you don’t want damaged by the fire. Keep in mind that heat rises, so tree branches directly above the pile might still get singed and moss or dead branches could ignite. Consider removing branches above the pile or place the pile in a different location.
7. If your pile will be burned during or after rain, consider covering with wax paper. Stash fine branches and dry leaves underneath the paper. This allows for burning piles on rainy days, reducing both the size of the flames and the risk of an “escape” (fire that spreads beyond intended boundaries). You can also use a tarp or piece of plastic to keep your piles dry while it’s raining (these should be removed before burning).
8. Do not add non-vegetative materials to your pile. Do not burn trash.

Step 2 - Get Air Quality Permit

An air quality permit is required year-round for all types of burning, including agriculture and residential pile burning. Obtain your air quality "Open Burn Permit" at the Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District website. Air quality permits are valid until April 30 of the following year. 

Step 3 - Get Burn Permit

1. Determine if you are in State Responsibility Area (SRA) or Local Responsibility Area (LRA). SRA is generally the mountainous terrain and not the valley floors. You can determine if your location is in SRA by using the State Responsibility Area Viewer site.
2. Burn permits are only required in SRA between May 1 to end of declared fire season (usually November or December).
3.  Apply for a CAL FIRE Burn Permit at the CAL FIRE Burn Permit website. 
4. CAL FIRE usually issues a “burn permit suspension” which may also be referred to as a “burn ban” during the summer and fall of each year where CAL FIRE has jurisdiction. The County of Sonoma also issues a similar suspension for areas not in CAL FIRE jurisdiction. These two burn permit suspensions prohibit most types of burning by not allowing permits to be issued and suspending permits that have been issued.
5. Burn permits are not required in LRA. Your air quality permit is also a burn permit in locations that are not in the SRA.

Step 4 - Checklist for Burn Day

1. On the morning of burning, call Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District at 707-565-2876 to see if it’s a permissible burn day. 
2. Follow all instructions on your air quality permit, including required notifications.
3. If you have a CAL FIRE burn permit, follow all instructions, including required notifications.
4. Be prepared to cancel your burn if it is not a permissible day or if the weather, especially winds, change suddenly.
5. Wear appropriate clothing, such as leather work boots, cotton pants, long sleeve natural fiber shirt, leather gloves and eye protection. Avoid synthetic materials that may melt and cause injuries.
6. Clear dead and dry vegetation around the pile.
7. Monitor your smoke and consider not burning if your smoke is not dispersing.
8. Never burn if weather conditions are unsafe. Ideal conditions are when weather is cool, damp, not windy, and surrounding vegetation is moist to the touch.
9. Have a water source and shovel at the burn site.
10. If possible, light the pile near the top. This will help to reduce smoke.  
11. An adult is required to be in attendance at the fire. 

Step 5 - Extinguish Burn Pile

1. Let the pile burn down to ash or coal. Move smoldering logs and coal toward the center with a metal rake or a shovel to speed up the burn-down process.
2. Douse the pile with lots of water, while stirring with a shovel. It may take between 50 to 100 gallons of water, but aggressive stirring significantly reduces the total amount of water needed. It’s very hard to extinguish piles completely when it’s windy. Water evaporates if you don’t stir it in.
3. Spread the coals out from the center, since working with a larger surface area is easier to extinguish.
4. If you have hot logs, scrape all of the heat from these logs with a shovel, hoe or other metal hand tool. You can chop up, scrape and mix all of it with dirt. Covering hot logs with wet dirt is a great way to increase the effectiveness of water.
5. The pile is fully extinguished when the ashes and coals at the bottom of the pile are completely cold to the touch of your ungloved hand.
6. Check the burn area once on the night of the burn and twice during the following day, in the morning as the sun begins to shine on the burned area, and again at the hottest hour (typically between 2 - 4 PM).
7. For the next 10 days, continue to check your burn area once a day,  even if you are certain your piles are extinguished. Check your piles more than once a day if conditions are warm and windy.
8. If you are unable to stay for at least 10 days to check on the piles, ask a neighbor or hire help to check for you. Night patrols are necessary during windy or dry conditions, as you may be able to see burning embers that are not visible during the day. Use the backside of your ungloved hand to sense any heat coming from the pile.
9. Extinguish burned down piles with water if there is no forecasted rain in the next five days, if the weather is entering a warming and drying trend, or if the heat of the burning piles has visibly dehydrated and killed surrounding vegetation.