Fire Marshal Megan Phillips, 509.625.7040
Monday, July 20, 2020 at 7:30 a.m.
Fire Marshals from City of Spokane Fire Department (SFD), Spokane Valley Fire Department (SVFD), Spokane County, City of Cheney, City of Airway Heights, and City of Deer Park have all enacted the Fire Danger Burn Restriction effective Monday, July 20, 2020. With high temperatures in the forecast, all Cities and Fire Agencies want to keep area communities safe from fire risk by reducing the number of human-caused wildfires.
“The hot-dry conditions produce increased fire risk,” said City of Spokane Fire Department Fire Marshal, Megan Phillips, “we want to mitigate that risk as much as possible by enacting burn restrictions area wide thus protecting all communities from the risk of human-caused wildfire.”
Unauthorized open burning and unauthorized recreational fires are restricted until this order is lifted or unless otherwise permitted by law enforcement or authorized agencies. If you have any questions, before lighting any fire, call your local agency first.
“Burn restrictions are put in place to keep us all safe and healthy,” said Spokane Valley Fire Department Fire Marshal, Greg Rogers. “After a review of the short-range weather forecast and the low humidity for Spokane County and discussions with our area Fire Chief partners, we feel it is prudent to initiate Burn Restrictions for Spokane County until further notice.”
This season in particular with so many in our community testing positive for COVID-19, we want to do our part to keep our air quality as smoke free as possible. Breathing smoke affects the respiratory system and can be harmful to everyone. Smoke can more severely impact children, older adults, and people living with heart and respiratory conditions.
We encourage everyone to follow these easy guidelines and help prevent an unplanned fire from occurring. Keep our community fire and smoke risk free this summer wildfire season:
Under the Burn Restriction:
All recreational fires are not allowed. This includes any outdoor fire without a chimney such as a backyard fire pit or campfire using chopped firewood or charcoal.
All open burning is not allowed. This includes any open burning of fields. Burning of yard waste is prohibited at all times.
Manufactured portable outdoor devices are allowed. This includes fireplaces, chimineas, barbeques, and patio warmers used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
Approved fuels in appropriate devices are allowed. This includes clean and dry seasoned firewood, charcoal, natural gas or propane gas.
Designated campfires in parks and campgrounds may be allowed as approved and determined by agencies with jurisdiction.
While the burn restriction is in place, any person found with a recreational fire or conducting open burning who fails to take immediate action to extinguish or otherwise discontinue such burning when ordered or notified to do so shall be charged with a misdemeanor. (IFC 109; SCC 3.02)
If you have questions regarding burn restrictions, here are some resources:
City of Airway Heights - http://www.cawh.org/
City of Deer Park - https://www.cityofdeerparkwa.com/
City of Spokane Fire Department - https://my.spokanecity.org/fire/
Spokane Clean Air - https://spokanecleanair.org/burning
Spokane County - https://www.spokanecounty.org/
Spokane Valley Fire Department (SVFD) - https://www.spokanevalleyfire.com/
Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) - https://www.dnr.wa.gov/OutdoorBurning
