Washington · Burn Bans

Before

A STATEWIDE OUTDOOR BURN BAN IS IN FORCE in all 39 Washington counties until noon on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. Governor's Emergency Proclamation 26-03, signed August 1, 2026 and reaffirmed on August 10 by Proclamation 26-03.1, prohibits all outdoor and agricultural burning — including campfires, bonfires, residential yard-debris clean-up, trash disposal, land clearing and weed abatement. Three exceptions: liquid-fuelled or gas-fuelled stoves and grills used over a non-flammable surface at least five feet from flammable vegetation; agricultural or silvicultural burning under a fire permit issued by a local or state authority; and campfires at state, county and municipal parks and campgrounds, or a small contained campfire (including a fire ring) on private property, where the agency or landowner with authority over that place still allows them. The ban may be ended or extended if conditions warrant, and nothing in it overrides stricter county, city, fire-district or landowner rules. Separately, DNR restrictions apply on land under DNR fire protection: 21 of DNR's 23 fire-danger areas carry an active restriction and 19 of those prohibit all burning, including rule burns, permit burns and campfires. DNR's Eastern Washington ban began July 17, 2026 and its western areas followed through August and early September. A DNR burn restriction reaches all state, county, city and private land under DNR fire protection, including state forests and DNR campgrounds, and violating one is a crime. Check DNR's Burn Portal (burnportal.dnr.wa.gov) and your county before burning.

Now

Washington's statewide outdoor burn ban has ENDED. Governor's Emergency Proclamation 26-03 prohibited all outdoor and agricultural burning in all 39 counties "until noon on Wednesday, September 30, 2026," and it expired on its own terms at that hour: the Governor's later wildfire proclamation, 26-03.3 (signed September 28, 2026), keeps the earlier provisions in force only "except to the extent they have expired by their terms" and does not extend the burn ban, and no extension appears among the Governor's proclamations or news releases (re-read September 30, 2026 after noon). DNR RESTRICTIONS STILL APPLY on land under DNR fire protection (state forests, state parks, DNR campgrounds and DNR-protected private forestland). DNR's official burn-restriction layer, re-read September 30, 2026, lists a restriction in 21 of its 23 fire-danger areas. Rule burns are prohibited in 20 areas; burning under a written DNR permit is allowed subject to its conditions. Campfires are prohibited in all of the Chelan area; allowed only in approved, designated campgrounds in 11 areas across the Northeast and Southeast regions (Foothills, Highlands, Kaniksu, Methow, Upper Basin, Valley, Blue Mountain Grass and Brush, Lower Basin, Lower Yakima, Upper Yakima and Northern Blue Mountains); allowed only in improved concrete, brick or metal fire pits in 5 areas (Coast, Vancouver, Gorge West, South WA Cascades and South Lowlands); and allowed in Central Lowlands and Central WA Cascades. The Olympics and Upper White Salmon areas defer to Olympic National Forest, Olympic National Park and Gifford Pinchot National Forest. In the Northwest region, North Cascade and North Lowlands show no DNR burn ban, with permit burns and campfires authorized from 12:01 a.m. on October 1, 2026. A DNR burn restriction is a crime to violate. Restrictions are set area by area and change often, and county, city, fire-district, clean-air-agency, national forest and landowner rules can be stricter — check DNR's Burn Portal (burnportal.dnr.wa.gov) and your county and fire district before you burn.