Beginning June 23, 2025, at 12:01 am, all fire agencies within Washington County will enact a High-Fire Danger Burn Ban, based on a recommendation made by the Washington County Fire Defense Board in alignment with the Oregon Department of Forestry, Declaration of Fire Season, Number 11.

Washington County fire agencies include:

• Banks Fire District #13
• Cornelius Fire Department
• Forest Grove Fire Department
• Gaston Rural Fire District
• Hillsboro Fire & Rescue Department
• Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue

Burning restrictions are authorized under Oregon Revised Statute 478.960 and Oregon Fire Code 307.

The burn ban prohibits all the following: 

• 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.

The burn ban does not prohibit: 

• Small outdoor cooking, warming, or recreational fires. These include portable or permanent fire pits, fire tables, and campfires, with a maximum fuel area of three (3) feet in diameter and two (2) feet in height, in a safe location away from combustibles or vegetation, and are fully extinguished after use.
• Barbeque grills, smokers, and similar cooking appliances with clean, dry firewood, briquettes, wood chips, pellets, propane, natural gas, or similar fuels.

Wood and debris burning is limited year-round within the City of Hillsboro. Visit Hillsboro-Oregon.gov/AirQuality to learn more. 

More restrictive fire safety rules may exist on and within 1/8 mile of Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF)-protected land throughout much of rural Washington County. ODF restrictions may include prohibitions on campfires, smoking, target shooting, powered equipment, motorized vehicles, and other public/private landowner and industrial fire restrictions. 

Get more details about ODF fire restrictions.

Outdoor fires started in violation of this burn ban may be immediately extinguished. If a fire agency responds to a fire started in willful violation of this burn ban, the person responsible may be liable for all costs incurred, as well as legal fees per ORS 478.965.

Fire chiefs in Washington County encourage the public to exercise extreme caution when engaging in activities that could start a fire.

It is everyone’s responsibility to prevent and prepare for wildfires.