With temperatures expected to hit the mid 90s Tuesday, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue is banning outdoor burning, beginning Tuesday morning at 8 a.m.
Readers in Roy and Mountaindale may be in TVF&R territory, and can check by inputting their address into this tool, which will also show current burn restrictions.
“Due to forecasted high temperatures, low relative humidity, and the potential for sustained winds, TVF&R is enacting a High Fire Danger Burn Ban,” the district said in a press release.
Specifically, the ban covers:
Backyard or open burning (branches, yard debris, etc.).
Agricultural burning (agricultural wastes, crops, field burning, etc.).
Any other land clearing, slash, stump, waste, debris or controlled burning.
It does not apply to small cooking, warming, or recreational fires, barbecue grills, smokers and similar cooking appliances with clean, dry firewood, briquettes, wood chips, pellets, propane, natural gas, or similar fuels.
Outdoor cooking, warming, or recreational fires must not exceed a fuel area of three feet in diameter and two feet in height, and must be in a safe location away from combustibles or vegetation.
And they must be fully put out after use.
According to Banks Fire District spokesperson Mitch Ward, the Banks Fire District will make a decision on a ban sometime by Tuesday morning. FGF&R’s Johnston also noted no decision had been determined on a ban in their territory.
The ban will be until further notice; this newspaper will publish a story when the ban is lifted, and TVF&R will also put out a press release, and update the burn info hotline at 503-259-1789.
This is the second burn ban in TVF&R’s territory so far this year.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
