All burning is closed except charcoal or propane BBQs for the county. State Parks has additionally shut down the use of charcoal so they are only allowing gas or propane BBQs and cook stoves.
— from San Juan County Fire Marshal —
As of today, August 31, 2017, there is a county-wide burn ban being enacted. This means no outdoor burning of recreational campfires, nor outdoor burning of wood in fire bowls, nor patio fire places.
Charcoal and propane barbeques continue to be allowed outside of parks and campgrounds. Please use extreme caution with outdoor cooking and keep a charged hose nearby or a bucket of water if possible.
This burn ban coincides with the closing of all burning in state parks in San Juan county as well as an expected period of hot weather with temperatures increasing over the course of the Labor Day weekend.
Please refer to the San Juan County Fire Marshal’s website for the most up to date burning status. Have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend.
Finally!!!
I agree with Merry. This should have occurred WEEKS ago, when the smoke of BC fires was filling the air and choking us. Many other WA counties did so then.
The San Juan County Fire Marshal knows what he’s doing. Less uninformed criticism, please!
He probably did not know the level of particulate pollution in the County. Many other counties called for burn bans at that time. Why were we different?
Orcas Issues 8/4/17: https://theorcasonian.com/no-burn-ban/
Thank you, Dan Christopherson.
Again, strange that so many counties had burn bans and we didn’t! Who benefits?
This only underscores my point, made in an earlier article published here and in the Sounder and Journal. Because the County is NOT a member of any local clean air agency like NWCAA, there was no advice received to put a burn ban into effect when smoke from the BC and Eastern WA fires surged into the Puget a Sound area in early August. Most other counties, members of such agencies, did indeed call for burn bans. This is not the responsibility of the Fire Marshall, whose concern has to be with the likelihood of fires starting, not whether asthmatics can breathe. We need to rejoin the NWCAA. It will cost the County peanuts!
I rest my case.