With the recent and forecasted cool wet weather, local Fire Districts, Wasco County, and Oregon Department of Forestry have agreed to lift the seasonal burn ban on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, at 12:01 a.m. This will allow for burning in barrels and of small debris piles. Larger slash pile burning is not included in this lifting of the ban.
Escaped debris burns remain a leading cause of destructive fires on private lands. ODF Fire Managers and the Wasco County Fire Chiefs remind residents that they need to check with local fire districts to ensure that burning is allowed on a given day, and to follow all instructions after obtaining any necessary permits. Wind is a big factor that can affect the spread of fire from debris piles. Watch the weather forecasts and ensure you have a fire safe area cleared around your pile with water and tools readily available. Monitor your pile until it has consumed and is out, as unattended piles can rekindle and spread at a later time without warning.
Our federal partners (US Forest Service & Bureau of Land Management) will also begin performing prescribed burns throughout the region. These prescribed burns will be conducted under carefully planned fuel and weather conditions with federal fire, state and local fire resources. These prescribed burns improve forest health and reduce the forest fuels in order to lower the wildfire risk to our communities that is ever present later in the season when the conditions are even more extreme.
Local burn information phone numbers:
- Mosier Fire District – (541) 478-3333
- Mid-Columbia Fire & Rescue – (541) 296-9445
- Oregon Department of Forestry – (541) 296-4626
- Permits are issued on private land south of the Mosier & MCFR Districts.
- This includes property within Tygh Valley, Wamic and Juniper Flats Rural Fire Districts.