campfire_ap.jpg
Campgrounds and approved fire rings have typically been exempt from campfire bans but forest managers have decided that can be too confusing. (AP Photo/File)

You are now banned from lighting up that campfire

BY KIRO Radio Staff  on August 8, 2012 @ 11:30 am (Updated: 2:15 pm - 8/8/12 )

Until further notice, don't light up a campfire.

The extremely dry, hot weather means campfires are not allowed - in campgrounds in the Cle Elum and Naches Ranger Districts in Kittitas and Yakima counties.

The only exception is for areas within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, typically at higher elevations.

The past few weeks as the temperatures have risen, grass and brush have dried out and increased the fire danger dramatically.

Campgrounds and approved fire rings have typically been exempt from campfire bans, but forest managers have decided that can be too confusing.

The conditions have been drier than normal this year and park rangers have found that fires lit in campgrounds are still burning long after the tenting residents have moved on.

"No wood or charcoal fires are going to be permitted in the district," explained Nancy Jones with the U.S. Forest Service.

The ban remains in effect until significant rainfall or humidity returns to the area.

KIRO Radio Staff, Staff report
Straight from the newsdesk.
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Comments (19)


  • Add A Comment

  • shark75 wrote...
    Whats the point
    August 8, 2012 2:07 pm
    Of camping then?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • LogicNReasonPlusScience wrote...
    Yep, liberals who've 'graduated' to 'bureaucrat' really suck!
    August 8, 2012 5:36 pm
    I unfortunately know an enviro science grad turned bureaucrat, and 'they' literally believe in (taught) "screw the masses so long as 'I' can get the exemption". Their job is literally to figure out a reason to limit the "hoards" from doing what they themselves want and like to do while creating 'loopholes', seriously. They see 'people', without discrimination, as a 'disease' -- seriously. The legitimate risk of 'fire' here is irrelevant to the bureaucrats.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • QuietObserver wrote...
    Most burn bans still allow...
    August 8, 2012 2:59 pm
    The use of propane fueled fire pits that have a cover. Do a quick search on Amazon.com for "portable propane fire pit". No need to chop wood.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Citizen of Krazy Town wrote...
    Just cancelled my trip next week
    August 8, 2012 3:04 pm
    Sitting around the Coleman stove and singing camp songs just ain't the same....
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    Next on the chopping block
    August 8, 2012 3:06 pm
    Beer. They'll find an environmental reason for the aluminum or something...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    I was just up there a week ago.
    August 8, 2012 5:51 pm
    It's getting really dry. I highly support it. I was up there about a week ago and it looked like burn ban time.

    I have a Magic Chef propane campfire that I use in such situations. While not as good as a real fire it does remarkably well. It often fools people. It even puts out heat once the rocks are hot.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • clevesside wrote...
    Of course its dry....
    August 8, 2012 7:07 pm
    ...and you don't light fires in highly combustable areas, public or private, assuming you do use use common sense. Of course. So where's the news in that, unless its potentially common sense as in "not applicable?"
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Citizen of Krazy Town wrote...
    @clevesside: you should spend some time on a campground
    August 8, 2012 9:30 pm
    Half of the people there have NO clue what they are doing.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Frogsplash wrote...
    And there is where the problem lies
    August 8, 2012 9:56 pm
    Too many stupid people. I backpacked in to McAlister Camp up Thunder Creek in the North Cascades about a week ago. Found the camping spot I was looking for, and didn't need any fire starting materials at all. The idiot that was there before me left hot coals in the fire pit.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Ron_Spins wrote...
    @Citizen
    August 8, 2012 9:59 pm
    True.Usually the moron "campers"start hacking on a sapling.99% OF these same people don't have water on hand to extinguish a fire if they did get one going.So they "break camp" by leaving the fire still going.Happens almost every time.Use charcoal briquettes.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Bman98121 wrote...
    Yeah
    August 9, 2012 8:04 am
    Drunk people are fun!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Mo Gaud wrote...
    Pretty much the same
    August 9, 2012 12:27 am
    as it has always been. This year the burn ban seems a little later and not as wide spread as it usually is. Be careful out there.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    Whats the point of camping then? . . . .
    August 9, 2012 2:42 am
    sex something you know nothing about. Wait a minute were you not the one that got kick off the Big Wheel?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • WA Native wrote...
    Camping Means Fire?
    August 9, 2012 4:12 am
    If the only purpose camping is sitting around a fire, then what do you do the other twenty two hour in a day?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • circuitfr wrote...
    funny...
    August 9, 2012 6:30 am
    half of our lives are trying to figure out what we can't or are not allowed to do in a *free* country. Fantastic. Hardly take a pis-s anymore...actually, you have to get low flow toilets..so I guess that's accurate.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DesertRez wrote...
    That's why we backpack
    August 9, 2012 7:26 am
    To get as far away from forest rangers and the public as possible. Bad enough at home, much less having a babysitter walking through our camp site making sure we are legal.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }