Clark County WA Burn Ban: Summer, Winter Stages, and Penalties

A burn ban in Clark County, WA can be one of two things: a summer fire-safety ban issued by the county Fire Marshal, or a winter air-quality ban issued by the Southwest Clean Air Agency or the Department of Ecology. To find out whether either is active at your address right now, check the Southwest Clean Air Agency’s interactive burn map or call the 24-hour burn line at 360-574-3058.¹ Violations can carry civil penalties up to $10,000 per day.

How to Check Whether a Ban Is Active

The Southwest Clean Air Agency (SWCAA) map takes your address and shows the exact rules for your property, which matters because restrictions differ inside and outside urban growth areas.¹ The same site posts real-time air quality readings from monitors across the county.² You can also view No Burn Area maps on the Clark County website or reach the Fire Marshal’s office at 564-397-2186.³ Check the day of, not the day before. Conditions change fast during fire season and winter inversions.

Summer Fire Safety Burn Bans

When dry conditions push fire danger up, the Clark County Fire Marshal can suspend outdoor burning under RCW 76.04.205.⁴ Fuel moisture, temperature, humidity, and wind forecasts all feed the decision.

During a fire safety ban, yard debris burning and land-clearing fires are prohibited outright. Recreational fires in backyard pits may still be allowed, or they may be banned too, depending on how bad conditions get. When the ban is at its most restrictive, even small recreational flames are illegal. The ban lifts once enough rain arrives to bring the fire danger down.⁴

Separately, state rules prohibit lighting any fire when Ecology or a local air authority has declared impaired air quality, even in summer.⁵

Winter Air Quality Burn Bans

Cold, still winter air traps fine particulate matter (PM2.5) near the ground, especially in valleys. When SWCAA or Ecology forecasts unhealthy levels, an air quality burn ban is issued under RCW 70A.15.3580.⁶ These come in two stages.

Stage 1

A Stage 1 ban is called when PM2.5 is forecast to exceed 35 micrograms per cubic meter within 48 hours.⁶ You cannot use an uncertified wood stove or an open fireplace. EPA-certified wood stoves and pellet stoves are still allowed.⁷

Stage 2

If Stage 1 does not reverse the pollution trend and PM2.5 stays at or above 25 micrograms per cubic meter with no relief expected, authorities escalate to Stage 2.⁶ All wood burning is prohibited, including in certified stoves and pellet stoves, and all outdoor burning is banned.⁷

Sole-Source Heat Exemption

If a wood stove or fireplace is your only heat source, both Stage 1 and Stage 2 restrictions do not apply to you.⁶ The statute requires that a home have “an adequate source of heat” other than wood for the ban to reach it. A working furnace or heat pump you prefer not to run still counts as adequate heat, so the exemption is narrow.

Rules That Apply Even When No Ban Is Active

Outdoor burning of yard debris is permanently prohibited inside Clark County’s urban growth areas. Vancouver, Camas, Washougal, and Ridgefield all sit within those zones. WAC 173-425-040 banned residential and land-clearing burning in urban growth areas starting in 2000.⁸ If your property is inside one of these boundaries, there is no season when a debris pile is legal. The SWCAA map shows whether you’re in a restricted zone.¹

Certain materials are always illegal to burn statewide: garbage, plastic, treated or painted wood, rubber, petroleum products, and anything else that produces toxic smoke or dense odors.⁹ Where burning is allowed, the only permitted fuels are natural vegetation grown on the property and small amounts of paper to start the fire.³

Recreational Fires and Debris Permits

Outside urban growth areas and outside an active ban, you can burn yard debris with a Fire Marshal permit. Small piles under 10 feet in diameter can be permitted at your local fire district station. Larger piles and land-clearing burns require a separate permit through the county’s online system, a fee, and a fire marshal inspection before ignition.³ Even with a permit in hand, do not burn when east winds are blowing or forecast.

Recreational fires have more room. A fire pit or campfire smaller than 3 feet by 3 feet by 2 feet tall needs no permit anywhere in Clark County when no ban is active.¹⁰ Larger recreational fires need a written SWCAA permit. Baseline rules for any recreational fire:

Only charcoal or seasoned firewood as fuel. No lumber, yard debris, or construction scraps.
An adult must be present until the fire is fully out, with a means to extinguish it close by.
A recreational fire cannot be used to dispose of yard waste or other materials.
Smoke or odor that creates a nuisance for neighbors is a violation regardless of the fire’s size.

During a summer fire safety ban, recreational fires may be restricted or banned entirely depending on severity, so check before you light anything.

Penalties for Illegal Burning

Illegal burning in Washington can carry a civil penalty up to $10,000 per day, and each day the violation continues is a separate offense.¹¹ For violating a recreational fire ban specifically, SWCAA has issued $500 citations along with possible criminal penalties.¹² Burning prohibited materials like garbage or treated wood can be fined up to $10,000 per day.¹³

Violating the air quality burn ban provisions of RCW 70A.15.3580 is also classified as a misdemeanor, so criminal charges are possible in addition to civil fines.⁶ And under state law, it is separately unlawful to negligently allow a fire on your property to spread to someone else’s land.¹⁴ If an escaped fire triggers an emergency response, the financial exposure runs well past the citation itself.

1
Southwest Clean Air Agency. Clark County Outdoor Burning Information
2
Southwest Clean Air Agency. Southwest Clean Air Agency
3
Clark County. Outdoor Burning
4
Washington State Legislature. RCW 76.04.205 – Burning Permits
5
Cornell Law Institute. Washington Administrative Code 332-24-205 – General Rules Minimum Requirements for All Burning
6
Washington State Legislature. RCW 70A.15.3580 – Limitations on Burning Wood for Heat
7
Washington State Legislature. WAC 173-433-150
8
Washington State Legislature. WAC 173-425-040 – Outdoor Burning
9
Washington State Legislature. Washington Administrative Code 173-425 – Outdoor Burning
10
Clark County Fire District 6. Outdoor Burning and Fireworks
11
Washington State Legislature. RCW 70A.15.3160
12
Southwest Clean Air Agency. Clark County Fire Safety Burn Ban Updated
13
Washington State Department of Ecology. Outdoor and Residential Burning
14
Washington State Legislature. RCW 76.04.730