CONTACT:  Susan Melnyk, Chief Communications Manager, (360) 867-2097 or susan.melnyk@co.thurston.wa.us 

County Issues Fire Safety Burn Ban on Yard Waste and Land Clearing
Recreational fires allowed on private, residential property and permitted campgrounds.

OLYMPIA – Thurston County Officials approved a temporary ban on residential yard waste burning and all land clearing burns in unincorporated areas of Thurston County. The ban begins Wednesday, July 8 and Thurston County has extended it through Thursday, October 15, 2026.

Recreational campfires will continue to be allowed on private residential properties and at official county, state, and federal campgrounds as long as they are built and contained within an established fire ring. 

A fire ring is an approved-for-fire-use concrete, stone or metal pit like those commonly found in campgrounds. The use of charcoal briquettes, gas, pellet grills, and propane barbeques will also continue to be allowed under the current burn ban. 

A 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. The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) currently has set their fire risk on public lands in our region to ‘Moderate.’ 

The Thurston County Fire Marshal, in consultation with the Thurston County Director of Emergency Services, the Thurston County Fire Chiefs Association and the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency (ORCAA), determined weather and other conditions within the county meet the fire danger level necessary to enact these restrictions on outdoor burning to all lands regulated by Thurston County.

Restrictions on outdoor burning during hot, dry summer months have resulted in a significant drop in brush fires and property damage each of the past several years, according to fire officials.

For more information about the County’s burn ban visit the County’s website at https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/departments/board-county-commissioners/burn-ban-information. And to stay up to date on the status of state burn bans, please visit the ORCAA website at www.orcaa.org.