Two Additional National Forests Ban Campfires Due to Increasingly Hot, Dry Conditions

Due to this week’s steady spate of thunderstorms across much of the state, coupled with what looks to be yet another heat wave on the horizon, you’ll soon be hard-pressed to find a campsite where you can light a fire in the Pacific Northwest.

This week, the Mount Hood National Forest and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Southern Washington both announced that open flames were prohibited. That means you cannot start a fire using wood, briquets, or pellets in those areas, which includes developed campgrounds. Target shooting is also temporarily off-limits.

“The forest has recently seen an uptick in wildfires, many of which are human caused,” Dirk Shupe, fire management staff officer for the Mount Hood National Forest, stated in a press release. “With a dry August ahead, we want to limit the unnecessary risk caused by abandoned or escaped campfires to our local communities, and the recreating public.”

Those two national forests join the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and Multnomah County in a burn ban. You can, however, still use portable cooking stoves, lanterns, and heating devices powered by liquefied or bottled fuel (including propane), since those sources can be instantly switched off.

While the Northwest’s national forests saw a wet, cool spring, conditions dried out in July and remained that way through August. The result is low moisture levels in vegetation, increasing the risk of wildfires.

There are currently six large fires—defined by the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center as an area of 100 acres of timber or greater and 300 acres of grass or rangeland or greater—burning the state. The biggest is the Miller Road Fire, situated approximately 13 miles southwest of Maupin in Central Oregon. That blaze is currently 98% contained, but it has torn through six homes, more than 300 minor structures, and 10,847 acres of land.

Fire agencies will be busy the next several days keeping track of all of the new fires sparked by today’s lightning storms, which moved north up the Cascades.

The Central Oregon Emergency Dispatch Center reported 800 lightning strikes sparking 70 fires on Tuesday. The Willamette National Forest alone reports this evening that it has tracked down 14 fire starts, and there are 11 other reported smokes that it hasn’t yet been able to locate.