Debris burning will be prohibited in Clark County for at least the next few days.
Outdoor land clearing and residential burning is temporarily banned effective midnight Wednesday, the Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office announced in a press release. The ban comes ahead of projected temperatures near 90 degrees, low humidity and gusty winds at the end of this week and the weekend.
Potential wildfire fuels also have an unusually small amount of moisture, Clark County Fire Marshal Jon Dunaway said.
“This is a precautionary move to prevent a controlled fire from escaping,” Dunaway said. “You might remember in March when several controlled fires in southwest Washington escaped, keeping fire crews very busy. This is indicative of the abnormally dry conditions we have and will continue to worsen as the season progresses. We don’t want a repeat performance of those escaped fires.”
All county burning permits, including those available online, are canceled and can be reissued or extended when the temporary ban is lifted.
The state Department of Natural Resources also changed the fire danger rating in Clark, Skamania and Cowlitz counties to moderate on state-managed lands. Permitted and rule burning are only allowed at low fire danger levels, the fire marshal’s office said. Restrictions don’t apply to federally managed lands.
Camp fires are allowed if they’re built in fire pits at designated campgrounds. Recreational fires on private land are subject to a number of regulations.
Those requirements include metal, stone or masonry-lined fire pits; containing flames under 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide; keeping fires 25 feet away from structures or combustible material and 20 feet under potential wildfire fuels; constant supervision from someone who is at least 16 years old; tools to extinguish a fire; and fully putting out fires before leaving the pit. Self-contained camp stoves are recommended for campsite cooking.
Conditions will be assessed Monday morning to determine if and when the ban should be lifted, the fire marshal’s office said.
Outdoor burning updates can be found on the county and Department of Natural Resources websites. More information can be found by calling the fire marshal’s office at 360-397-2186 or on the county website.
