Marion County Fire Agencies Enact High-Fire Danger Burn Ban

Press release on behalf of the Marion County Fire Defense Board.

Marion County, OR – Beginning Friday, June 25, 2021, at 7:00 a.m. and until further notice, all fire agencies within Marion County will enact a High-Fire Danger Burn Ban, based on a recommendation by the Marion County Fire Defense Board.

Marion County fire agencies include: Aumsville Fire District, Drakes Crossing Fire District, Gates Fire District, Hubbard Fire District, Idanha Detroit Fire District, Jefferson Fire District, Keizer Fire District, Lyons Fire District, Marion County Fire District #1, Mill City Fire District, Monitor Fire District, Mount Angel Fire District, Silverton Fire District, St. Paul Fire District, Salem Fire Department, Stayton Fire District, Sublimity Fire District, Turner Fire District, and Woodburn Fire District. Burning restrictions are authorized under Oregon Revised Statute 478.960 and Oregon Fire Code 307.

The burn ban prohibits all of the following:

1. Backyard or open burning (branches, yard debris, etc.).
2. Agricultural burning (agricultural wastes, crops, field burning, etc.).
3. Any other land clearing, slash, stump, waste, debris, or controlled burning.

The burn ban does not prohibit:

1. 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.
2. 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 one-eighth mile of Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF)-protected land, which exists throughout much of rural Marion 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.

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.

Fire chiefs in Marion County encourage the public to use extreme caution with activities that could start a fire. It is everyone’s responsibility to prevent and be prepared for wildfires.