Campfire ban in all WA state parks

Ban eased for Western Washington state parks.

I'm in the Wenatchee area for the next three weekends though.

Francesca Knowles wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:

Just heard on the news that the 3 big fires are not out. but nearly so.

Didja also hear on the news that the day after the Annual We-Hate-Campfires Statewide State Parks Campfire Ban was imposed, almost two inches of rain fell in Western Washington?

Follows:
Picture of submerged cars in Bellevue, not more than twenty miles from the nearest State Park where campfires are prohibited "due to fire danger":



Source of pic: Heavy August rains wreak havoc across Puget Sound region

I live in Western Wa. I didn't need to hear it in the news.

Tom/Barb wrote:

Just heard on the news that the 3 big fires are not out. but nearly so.

Didja also hear on the news that the day after the Annual We-Hate-Campfires Statewide State Parks Campfire Ban was imposed, almost two inches of rain fell in Western Washington?

Follows:
Picture of submerged cars in Bellevue, not more than twenty miles from the nearest State Park where campfires are prohibited "due to fire danger":



Source of pic: Heavy August rains wreak havoc across Puget Sound region

We never have a fire in camp the last day we are there.
Just heard on the news that the 3 big fires are not out. but nearly so.

I like the fake fire option :) Propane fire pits seem expensive. We cans till do "microwave" smores...

Anyway, the ban is still in effect despite the rain.

korbe wrote:
"In all my years of camping in developed campgrounds with fire pits, I have yet to hear of any forest fires starting from them (except for careless people not following common sense with the fires).

...and that one person can cause a huge fire. A couple years ago we were in a national forest campground over Memorial weekend. On the last day when everyone was making a mad dash for home, we were sitting outside and all of the sudden the forest floor (pine needles) was ablaze and coming our way because of the wind direction. We called 911 and quickly bagan packing. As we were pulling out the fire trucks began arriving. We followed it on the news. It took four days to contain the fast-moving fire. A camper had not fully extinguished his fire, sparks from a log flew into the pine needles and the campground, along with other nearby campgrounds were closed for two months. The fire quickly traveled up and over hills.

A fire is not put out unless you dump a couple buckets of water on it, stir it up and cannot feel any heat whatsoever.

We've volunteered for parks and when campers leave we clean up the sites. Very few campers really put out their fire. That also goes for when they leave the campground to go fishing, siteseeing, etc. Put the fire out - completely. We've been called upon often for unattended fires. People think the fire will stay in the firepit. It won't.

I could write a text regarding the overreach of authority when making regulations; however, that was not really your question.
To maintain the family tradition how about one of the many propane fire pits offered by Camping World and others. You can still make Someors, granted it not even close to the warm crackle of fresh wood, but it complies with regulations. Happy Trails.

"Prohibiting open fires and campfires in all state parks is intended to minimize public confusion".

In all my years of camping in developed campgrounds with fire pits, I have yet to hear of any forest fires starting from them (except for careless people not following common sense with the fires). In California, even with the high fire hazard, the forest Service still allows fires in fire pits within developed campgrounds but the fires must be extinguished when leaving and not left burning with no one around.

I agree with what they are doing for the most part. Here in SW Washington it is really dry, almost all of the woods are locked up right now. But I am a little surprised they are banning campfires on the coast.

Ridiculous.
And no need, especially on the west side of the cascades. Well, not for fire prevention, anyway. This has become more of a "clean air" thing than a fire suppression effort- they do it every year now.

Side note:

The Olympic Nat'l Forest (my turf) continues to permit campfires not only in campgrounds, but in dispersed established camping spots. That's because they've made a determination based on- gasp- ACTUAL CONDITIONS that danger from such activities is very low.

Now if we could only get a few such level heads at the State level...