News and Info

Within Okanogan County there are four entities that regulate outdoor burning.  The Washington State Department of Ecology, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the Okanogan County Commissioners, and the municipalities. 

The Washington State Department of Ecology is the agency that regulates air quality burn bans.  They have jurisdiction over all property in the state.  Their website is www.ecology.wa.gov .  It includes a lot of valuable information concerning topics such as outdoor burning and its alternatives. 

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regulates fire safety burn bans.  The DNR has jurisdiction over state owned, as well as most privately owned unincorporated property in OCFD6.  To find out if the DNR’s regulations apply to your property, check your tax assessment for your property. If you are assessed a “DNR Fire Control Tax”, then your private property is subject to DNR restrictions.  To learn more about the DNR and their regulations go to www.dnr.wa.gov/OutdoorBurning  

The Okanogan County Commissioners, with input from their fire advisory board, impose a burn restriction from June 15^th to October 15^th to reduce wildfire potential.  This is separate from the county burn ban and only recreational fires are allowed during this time.  When a high fire danger condition become present, a County-Wide Burn Ban will be implemented prohibiting ALL outdoor burning including recreational fires. When there is a burn ban, Fire District #6 will post it on our website and on signs located Carlton, Twisp, Winthrop, and Mazama.  Fire District #6 and the DNR have joint jurisdiction over most of the unincorporated property within our District.  This means that both sets of restrictions apply.  You can check to see if the County burn ban is in effect at www.okanogancountyfd6.com  along with checking the sign boards in the towns of Winthrop at the west end of the Chewack bridge at the Forest Service compound, in the Town of Twisp across the highway from Hanks Mini Market, and at the Mazama and Carlton Fire Stations.  We will also post it on Facebook. 

Municipalities have the discretion to impose their own restrictions on outdoor burning.  The town of Twisp can be contacted at either 997-4081 or www.townoftwisp.com .   The town of Winthrop can be contacted at either 996-2320 or www.townofwinthrop.com .

 If you wish to burn outdoors, please take the time to learn which rules and regulations apply to you and the location of your burn.