Fire safety burn bans: BackgroundWhen do we call a fire safety burn ban? Each year, the King County Fire Marshal Division within DDES evaluates the fire hazard in King County and determines whether a fire safety burn ban needs to be enacted. To help eliminate public confusion, King County works in concert with Pierce, Kitsap, Mason and Snohomish Counties, and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. The process used to determine a burn ban is to evaluate the moisture content in what is called the 1,000-hour fuels. These are tree branches three inches in diameter and smaller. When their moisture content drops below 20 percent, an area begins to experience significant brush fires. This is the trigger we use to declare a Phase 1 burn ban, which means all outside burning is banned except campfires and recreational fires in approved fire pits (see sidebar). The Fire Marshal Division constantly evaluates the fire hazard, and when firefighting resources become overwhelmed, or fuel moisture content continuously drops, a Phase 2, complete burn ban is declared. Typically, the King County fire hazard level becomes critical each year around the second week in July. Sustained dry weather could lead to an earlier burn ban, and once called, a fire safety burn ban generally lasts throughout the summer and may go into fall. For more information about whether or not we have called a burn ban, visit www.kingcounty.gov/property/FireMarshal/BurnBanInfo.aspx or call King County Fire Marshal John Klopfenstein at 206-296-7071. For more on the difference between fire safety and air quality burn bans, see Air Quality vs. Fire Safety Burn Bans (external link).
|
