OLYMPIA — State officials will ease restrictions on recreational campfires because of recent rain and cooler temperatures.
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources said in a news release Tuesday that effective Wednesday, campfires will be allowed in approved fire pits in campgrounds on Washington lands protected by the agency.
Other forms of outdoor burning, such as debris burning, remain prohibited under a burn ban ordered by Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz because forests and rangelands remain dry from the summer’s low precipitation totals.
Franz urges everyone to check with local authorities before lighting campfires as they may have their own continued campfire bans.
She says more than 90 percent of Washington’s wildfires this year have been human-caused.
