PORTLAND, Ore. — Multnomah County has announced a countywide burn ban effective immediately, echoing similar recent announcements from other Portland-area counties and fire districts. The bans come as the Portland region heads into a significant heat wave expected to last most of the week.
Multnomah Fire Defense Board chief Scott Lewis issued the ban Monday in response to high forecasted temperatures, limited rainfall and ongoing dry conditions, according to a press release from the City of Gresham. The ban is effective indefinitely.
The ban includes recreational campfires, fire pits, yard debris, agricultural burning and any burning for which permits would normally be issued such as land clearing or controlled burning. It does not include outdoor barbecuing, but residents are urged to exercise extreme caution when using grills.
On Wednesday the county issued a mandatory wood burning restriction, which prohibits all wood burning in places like wood stoves, fireplaces and outdoor fire pits, except for cooking.
Unlike the general burn ban, which is triggered by high temperatures, dry conditions and other wildfire risks, the wood burning ban is triggered by poor air quality, which can be made worse by wood smoke.
The wood burning ban will remain in effect until conditions improve, the county said in a news release, likely not until at least Sunday.
All fire agencies in Washington County have also jointly enacted a burn ban effective Monday, according to a news release form the City of Hillsboro. The ban does not include barbecue grills or small outdoor fires for cooking or recreation.
Fire officials in Clark County previously announced a ban on all land clearing and residential burning effective July 15, following a standard policy to ban outdoor burning each year from mid-July to the end of September.
The Vancouver Fire Marshal issued a recreational burn ban Thursday, set to take effect Friday, banning recreational fires, bonfires, campfires and fires in outdoor fireplaces and fire pits within the city limits, although it exempts cooking on propane or charcoal barbecues.
In Clackamas County, multiple fire agencies including Clackamas Fire District #1, the Canby Fire District and Aurora Fire District announced the end of the usual backyard burning season on June 15. All of the county's fire agencies jointly announced a burn ban Tuesday, effective July 28.
