Smoke from fires burning throughout Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and British Columbia have made conditions hazardous at times for residents of Cheney, the West Plains and throughout the region.
OLYMPIA – With multiple fires burning on the landscape and communities suffering from dense layers of smoke, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) expanded its burn ban on Sept. 5 to cover the entire state.
"Wildfire and smoke is affecting every community around the state as we see the hot, dry summer take its toll on our forests," Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz said in a news release. "Without any relief from this weather in the foreseeable future and with our firefighters spread across the Northwest, we can no longer allow outdoor burning anywhere in Washington."
DNR has been implementing burn restrictions regionally as local conditions warranted. The statewide ban means outdoor burning is prohibited on all forestlands that DNR protects from wildfire. Anyone caught violating the burn ban can face fines. Prescribed ecological burns in rare instances may be allowed if expressly approved by Commissioner Franz.
Burn restrictions on federally-owned lands, such as national forests, national parks, national wildlife refuges or other areas are administered by federal agencies. Counties and local fire districts may have additional burn restrictions.
On Monday, Labor Day, DNR firefighters responded to 21 new fire starts, including a fire west of Medical Lake along Fancher Road.
Fireworks and incendiary devices, such as exploding targets, sky lanterns, or tracer ammunition, are always illegal on all DNR-protected forestlands.
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