Summer is in full swing, bringing high temperatures and dry conditions, but it also means an annual countywide burn ban beginning Wednesday.
The Clark County Fire Marshal is restricting all land clearing and residential burning in the county due to increased fire danger during the summer months, according to a Friday news release.
Recreational fires on private land are permitted if built to regulation. Fires must be in a metal- or stone-lined fire pit, at least 25 feet from structures or other combustible material and may not exceed 2 feet in height and 3 feet in diameter. They must be attended at all times and properly extinguished with water or moist soil.
Clark County Interim Fire Marshal Dan Young is also canceling all outdoor burning permits issued prior to the ban, and permits can be reissued or extended when the ban is lifted.
The burning restrictions do not apply to lands managed by federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service or the U.S. Forest Service. Recreation campfires on forest lands are allowed in fire pits in designated campgrounds in local, county and state parks.
Each year, Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania counties jointly implement a ban on outdoor burning from July 15 to Sept. 30. According to the Fire Marshal’s office, the period was based on years of information about wildfire fuel conditions.
“The annual burn ban dates allow residents to plan to burn during safer times of the year,” Young said in a press release from the Clark County Fire Marshal.
In extreme fire hazard conditions, a ban can begin sooner or end later than the annual window for the fire ban. After Sept. 30, Young said to contact the Fire Marshal’s office before burning to be sure the ban has been lifted.
More information can be found on the county’s website at clark.wa.gov/development/fire/burning.html.
