Thursday, October 1, 2026
Thurston County residents face a choice this week between voluntary outdoor burning restrictions or potential mandatory prohibitions on wood stove heating.
The Olympic Region Clean Air Agency (ORCAA) issued a warning on Monday, Dec. ,1 as continued combustion activity threatens to force a Stage 1 ban declaration across Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Mason, Pacific and Thurston counties.
The agency’s notice comes amid a cold, calm weather pattern that settled over Western Washington during Thanksgiving weekend and has persisted into December.
The stagnant pattern has increased wood stove use for home heating, according to ORCAA, and several communities are recording moderate air quality levels.
To track those changes, the agency maintains a fire and smoke map that displays readings from official monitoring stations and personal sensor networks installed throughout the region.
Readings on Dec. 1 showed Thurston County with predominantly good air quality, while moderate pollution levels appeared in neighboring areas to the north, including Tacoma and areas around Pierce County. Recent readings detected elevated particulate concentrations in multiple areas.
In light of those readings, ORCAA asked that all residents voluntarily hold off on outdoor burning this week in the interest of public health and safety. The request aims to prevent air quality from degrading further.
"By limiting the amount of outdoor burning, ORCAA hopes to avoid having to call an official burn ban," the agency stated. "During a Stage 1 ban, residents may have to stop using their wood stoves for home heating. In short, curbing outdoor burning now means residents can continue to use their wood stoves to stay warm and safe."
The agency urged homeowners to postpone yard waste burning until conditions improve and smoke can disperse more efficiently.
"Or better yet, homeowners should use alternative means of disposal for their yard debris,” the warning states.
Chipping and composting eliminate smoke emissions and provide effective ways to manage debris.
Residents can find more details on disposal options at Outdoor Burning – ORCAA or by calling local waste disposal companies.
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Westside2
There’s much missing from this article. And ORCAA could pitch a new policy that controls outdoor burning further without affecting home heating… and stop with threatening people and start thinking more critically. Also, WAC 173-433 specifically states criteria must be met before calling a burn ban- criteria that air monitoring has not detected and the forecast does not support ORCAA’s assertion that we are nearing the criteria….
Criteria for impaired air quality burn bans.
Ecology or a local air authority may call an impaired air quality burn ban as follows:
(1) Stage 1 impaired air quality burn ban:
(a) Ecology or the local air authority may call a stage 1 impaired air quality burn ban when they predict that the twenty-four hour average of PM-2.5 levels will reach or exceed thirty-five micrograms per cubic meter within forty-eight hours.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 Report this
JW
ORCAA is a joke. They'll come out and harass taxpaying property owners but are too chicken to go into the Jungle and confront transients burning trash and tires which heavily pollutes the surrounding area.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025 Report this
Train4hard
@westside2 ORCAA does not issue burn bans, DNR, fire districts, and city fire Marshalls do. ORCAA only enforces the burn bans that are set by other governing bodies.
@JW what are you doing for your community? ORCAA does not have jurisdiction in the Jungle so maybe do some research before looking dumb. Also most of those taxpayers getting tickets are probably burning trash piles as well, its not just transients.
Wednesday, December 10, 2025 Report this