News Release

Campfire ban lifted for Olympic and North Cascades national parks and Olympic and Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie national forests

Date: September 16, 2021
Contact: Penny Wagner - Olympic National Park
Contact: Corina Rendón - Olympic National Forest

Port Angeles, WA— Interagency fire managers announce the campfire ban is lifted effective Thursday, September 16, on all lands and campgrounds within Olympic National Park, Olympic National Forest, North Cascades National Park Service Complex, and Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The decision to lift the campfire ban is due to the fire danger moderating with cooler, moist weather and the forecast for significant rainfall.

Although fire restrictions have been lifted locally, park visitors and forest users are reminded to always take precautions to ensure fire safety. Both the Northwest region (Washington and Oregon) and the nation remain at a Preparedness Level 5—the highest level of wildland fire activity. The majority of firefighting resources are already deployed due to the large amount of wildland fire activity throughout the country.

Visitors to public lands should always use caution to prevent human-caused wildfires. To reduce the risk, please consider the following:

• Fireworks are always prohibited on federal public lands.

• Before going camping, learn of any restrictions that may be in place.

• If smoking, always dispose of cigarette debris in some type of an ashtray.

To report a fire dial 911.

The move to Stage 2 fire restrictions in late July was due to the extremely dry conditions; the need to align with state and county campfire restrictions; the commitment of firefighting resources battling numerous wildfires around the nation; and the strain any new uncontrolled fires would have placed on these resources.

National Interagency Fire Center: nifc.gov/
Active Fire Information - Incident Information System: inciweb.nwcg.gov/
Olympic National Park information: nps.gov/olym/                     
Olympic National Forest information: fs.usda.gov/olympic
North Cascades National Park Service Complex information: nps.gov/noca
Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest information: fs.usda.gov/mbs

State and county area burn bans: www.waburnbans.net