In consultation with the Oregon Department of Forestry and other members of the Washington County Fire Defense Board, TVF&R and all other Washington County fire agencies are re-enacting a High Fire Danger Burn Ban. This ban extends to TVF&R’s service area in Clackamas, Yamhill, and Multnomah counties. The ban will remain in place until weather patterns change due to increased wildfire risk.
As a reminder, the burn ban prohibits all the following:
- Backyard or open burning (branches, yard debris, etc.).
- Agricultural burning (agricultural wastes, crops, field burning, etc.).
- Any other land clearing, slash, stump, waste, debris or controlled burning.
The burn ban does not prohibit:
- Small outdoor cooking, warming or recreational fires. These include portable or permanent fire pits, fire tables, and campfires, with a maximum fuel area of three feet in diameter and two feet in height in a safe location away from combustibles or vegetation and are fully extinguished after use.
- Barbeque grills, smokers and similar cooking appliances with clean, dry firewood, briquettes, wood chips, pellets, propane, natural gas, or similar fuels.
There may be more restrictive fire safety rules on and within a 1/8 mile of Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF)-protected land, which exists throughout much of rural Washington County. ODF restrictions may include prohibitions on campfires, smoking, target shooting, powered equipment, motorized vehicles, and other public/private landowner and industrial fire restrictions. More details about ODF fire restrictions are available at https://gisapps.odf.oregon.gov/firerestrictions/PFR.html.
The burn ban was re-enacted due to brush fires over the past couple of days that originated from outdoor burning.
Outdoor fires in violation of this burn ban may be immediately extinguished. If a fire agency responds to a fire that has been started in willful violation of this burn ban, the person responsible may be liable for all costs incurred, as well as legal fees per ORS 478.965.
Morning Fire in Washington County Demonstrates Risk
At 10:04 a.m. on Saturday, November 19, callers reported a rapidly spreading brush fire in the 14000 block of SW Beef Bend Rd. A burn pile that was being monitored with a hose had burning leaves on top that the wind began picking up and carrying a distance of 20 to 30 feet, causing fires to start in the nearby field. Despite difficult access due to fenced in fields, swift actions by firefighters (including cutting through fences) protected structures including two barns and a newer constructed home. The direction of the wind and having water supply in the area also contributed to bringing the fire under control.
There was no immediate risk to life.
