CONTACT:   Brett Bures, Fire Marshal and Building Development and Compliance Manager (360) 786-5471 or brett.bures@co.thurston.wa.us 

Thurston County Issues Fire Safety Burn Ban on Yard Waste and Land Clearing Amid Hot and Dry Conditions

Recreational fires allowed on private, residential property and permitted campgrounds.

OLYMPIA – Thurston County Commissioners 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 9 and runs through Tuesday, September 30, 2025.

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) set their fire risk on public lands in our region to ‘high’ which triggered the county to enact a ban on residential and land clearing burns to minimize fire danger.

The Thurston County Fire Marshal, in consultation with the Thurston County Director of Emergency Services, DNR, and the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency (ORCAA), determined weather 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.