Local agencies tighten reins on fire safety

From staff reports

Local agencies are placing increased restrictions on outdoor burning this week as dry conditions continue to prompt wildfires across the state.

Chief Lester Erwin of the Whitman County Rural Fire District 12 declared a burn ban Wednesday evening, effective immediately, for his district in Whitman County.

The ban prohibits burning anywhere in the district – including open fields and authorized fire pits – and is effective until further notice.

District 12 encompasses the area surrounding Pullman, bound on the south end from the Johnson Cutoff Road to the Idaho border, and on the north end from Carothers Road to the Kamiak Butte.

Effective Friday, Whitman County Parks and Recreation will ban smoking and campfires at the Kamiak Butte and Klemgard County Parks as well as the Bill Chipman Palouse Trail. Cooking with charcoal briquettes or a gas grill will remain an option.

The department implemented the same restrictions at the Wawawai County Park on June 10.

Park visitors are urged to prepare themselves by keeping a shovel and a bucket of water nearby while cooking.

Erwin mentioned several of his volunteers are fighting wildfires elsewhere in the state.

Burning outside of authorized fire pits remains permanently illegal in Pullman.