Ban on backyard barbecues on certain days in California floated as others push back hard

A mayoral candidate in California is taking heat this week for proposing that her city ban backyard barbecues on days that carry high wildfire risk.

Nithya Raman is a Democratic Los Angeles City Council member currently challenging Republican Spencer Pratt in the heated race for L.A. mayor.

The Democratic Socialists of America backed both of Raman's earlier city council campaigns, though they declined to endorse her mayoral run.

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Her proposal to ban backyard barbecuing would have also extended to fire pits and restaurants that cook with open flames had Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez not snuffed it out with her own motion to block the ban.  

Raman's original public-safety motion included language about "a notice to all residents in Red Flag Warning areas to cease all activities that increase risk of fire, such as the use of outdoor barbecues or fire pits."

Rodriguez fired back at that.

"Having conversations that single out barbecuing in a residential area on a Red Flag day misses the mark, and frankly is tone-deaf, when we know that so many of the fires that are actually impacting neighborhoods have often been derived from other activities that are not being enforced on," she said while introducing an amendment to withdraw Raman’s recommendation.

Red Flag days declared by Los Angeles are when weather conditions carry the high potential for fast-moving brush fires, according to the city's fire department website. The conditions include wind speeds of 25 mph or more and humidity at 15% or less.

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Rodriguez said the proposed barbecue ban would "unfairly target neighborhood gatherings and long-standing community traditions."

She added, "The last thing Angelenos need is a ban on hosting a carne asada in their own backyards." That message was shared in a Facebook post accompanying a video of her amendment speech.

Pratt took advantage of the unpopular policy proposal to light a fire under his own campaign, which has been gaining momentum in recent weeks.

"Come and take it," Pratt wrote in a caption showing a video of himself grilling a huge piece of meat that he posted to social media. "Happy Smoke 4th," he wrote in overlay text on the video.

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Pratt lost his own home more than a year ago in the Pacific Palisades fires that ravaged The Golden State. 

The Pratt family was still displaced as of February, according to reports. 

"They’re trying to cancel summer in California," social and political commentator Debra Lea said on Fox News' "The Will Cain Show."

Lea pointed out the cause of California’s recent devastating wildfires was not backyard barbecuing but "poor leadership and bad decisions."

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Lightning strikes, faulty power lines and transformers, and poorly managed forests have led to the most devastating California fires in recent years, according to National Review.

The Trump administration has blamed California Gov. Gavin Newsom for the state’s devastation.

"Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way," President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social in January 2025.

In January 2026, Trump signed an executive order "to cut through bureaucratic red tape and speed up reconstruction in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon areas one year after devastating wildfires destroyed nearly 40,000 acres of homes and businesses."

It's estimated that some 70% of U.S. households own backyard grills or smokers, according to the most recent publicly available industry reports.