It's a good idea to check the details of those fire bans; increasingly alcohol and Esbit stoves, or any stoves without shutoff valves, are included in those bans along with wood stoves. Last summer several national forests in the Pacific Northwest specifically stated that stoves must have a shutoff valve and be approved by Underwriters Laboratories. I believe that was in response to the fire in Colorado caused by a careless alcohol stove user last spring. The UL provision would also exclude any homemade stoves.

Wood stoves, as well as campfires, are also prohibited in areas where wood is scarce, in areas near, at or above timberline. Here in the Pacific Northwest, that's above 4,000 to 5,000 feet elevation. That's regardless of fire danger and has to do with the thin soils lacking organic matter at those elevations. Strip those areas of the small amount of down wood that needs to rot and replenish the soil, and you end up with bare dirt instead of wildflowers.