Burn ban on North Olympic Peninsula ends at midnight

PORT ANGELES — Seasonal burns bans will be lifted on the North Olympic Peninsula when the clock strikes midnight tonight.

Statewide burn bans are effective from July 1 to Sept. 30 of every year, but the ban is extended if conditions warrant.

Clallam County Fire Marshal Sheila Roark Miller announced Tuesday that the ban will be lifted in Clallam County tonight.

The same thing applies in Jefferson County.

“We collaborated with all the [fire] chiefs, and we agreed that that’s very appropriate,” East Jefferson Fire-Rescue Chief Gordon Pomeroy said.

Burn bans apply to all outdoor burning except recreational fires in approved fire pits and state Department of Natural Resources-approved fires.

The use of gas and propane self-contained stoves and barbecues are allowed during bans.

DNR upgraded burn bans in Clallam and Jefferson counties in mid-August, when the fire danger was upgraded from low to moderate.

The fire danger was listed as low in Clallam, Jeff­erson and 17 other counties Thursday.

The fire danger was high or very high/extreme in seven counties, all of which are in Eastern Washington.