Oldranger, whether or not alcohol stoves are legal during fire bans seems to vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. That's also true for wood-fired stoves (which may be illegal at or above timberline where all wood is scarce even if there isn't a fire ban). X National Forest will say no and Y National Forest will say yes.

I guess about all you can do is check with the local national forest or park when there's a campfire ban to see if your stove is legal. Some places I've checked with just say, "use a stove" while others specify a stove with a shutoff valve.

Forest fires have started from carelessness with alcohol stoves, but anyone who has seen a canister or, worse yet, white gas stove flare up knows that they can do just as much damage. Certainly nobody is going to reach into a fireball to try to turn the thing off!

No matter what the stove, you need to be extra careful in tinder-dry conditions--preferably have it resting on mineral soil well away from any vegetation.

I have been playing around with an alcohol stove for the past year, but I still prefer my Primus micron canister stove for its convenience.