Thurston County’s outdoor burn ban went into effect at 5 p.m. on Friday and will end Friday, Sept. 30.
The Thurston County fire marshal announced the burn ban Friday morning after determining, in consultation with the Thurston County director of emergency services, the Department of Natural Resources and the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency (ORCAA), that current weather conditions within the county have met the fire danger level necessary to enact restrictions on outdoor burning to all lands regulated by Thurston County, according to a news release.
The fire safety burn ban applies to residential yard waste burning and all land clearing burns. The restrictions on outdoor burning during the summer have resulted in a significant drop in brush fires and property damage each of the past several years, according to fire officials.
“The fire safety burn ban is enacted when weather and fire fuel conditions reach a level of danger that may pose a threat to people and their property,” said Thurston County Fire Marshal Joshua Cummings. “The Department of Natural Resources has moved their fire risk on public lands in our region to ‘moderate’ which triggers the county’s process to enact the fire safety ban to minimize the threat of fires as much as possible through the restriction of residential and land clearing burns.”
At this time, recreational fires are allowed on private residential properties and in established fire rings within official county, state and federal campgrounds. Recreational fires must be contained in approved concrete, stone or metal pits like those commonly found in campgrounds. The use of charcoal briquettes, gas, and propane barbecues will continue to be allowed under the burn ban.
More information about Thurston County’s burn bans is available at https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/bocc/pages/burn-ban-info.aspx.
Lewis County’s burn ban went into effect one minute after midnight on Friday, July 15.
For information about outdoor burning and/or the restrictions in Lewis County, contact Lewis County Fire Marshal Doyle Sanford at 360-740-2696. Sanford’s office is in the Lewis County Public Services building at 2025 NE Kresky Ave., Chehalis.
Visit the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency’s website at www.orcaa.org to stay up to date on the status of burn bans in the region.
