This paper described the community and legislative rules to control bush fires in the drier regions of Sierra Leone. Legislation was never effectively enforced and at the same time traditional rules had become less effective, leading to fires of greater extent, frequency and intensity. The demise of community rules was related to the loss of power among traditional leaders in a changing political environment. To control fire, greater co-operation was needed between central government and local government, to provide support to community-level organisations, in particular youth leagues