Clean Air Agency board lifts ban on campfires in Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater
An air-quality rule that stood for 30-plus years is coming to an end after the Olympic Region Clean Air Agency voted to lift a ban on urban campfires in Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater.
The new rule, once some paperwork has been processed, is set to take effect in late February or early March, said Dan Nelson, spokesman for ORCAA.
Why lift the ban? ORCAA recommended the change because air quality has improved over the years, it aligns the three cities with other communities in Western Washington that allow campfires, and it ends the confusion about whether residents can have a recreational fire.
“I wasn’t aware of the regulation until I joined the (ORCAA) board,” said Lacey City Council member Robin Vazquez on Wednesday.
What will be allowed? A campfire no larger than 2 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter, burning only clean dry firewood or charcoal, ORCAA officials have said.
The new rule does not overturn other rules that regulate fires, such as a building’s setback requirements, homeowner’s association rules or summertime burn bans.
During Wednesday’s public hearing and vote, ORCAA Executive Director Jeff Johnston made clear that addressing campfires in homeless encampments was not the sole driver for the rule change, but it was part of it.
He said ORCAA has been trying to encourage safe, survival fire burning in those camps, but at the same time was telling residents they couldn’t burn at all.
“That didn’t seem very equitable,” he said.
Tye Gundel, co-director of Olympia Mutual Aid Partners, a homeless services group that provides outreach to the unsheltered, testified in support of the rule change, saying one of their biggest challenges is associated with hazardous burning and the “serious impacts that presents to the camp and the broader community.”
The ban, she said, made it difficult to explore more effective strategies. Now that the ban has been lifted, Gundel said OlyMAP, with support from ORCAA and the Regional Housing Council, is about to embark on a new program to address campfire safety.
The specifics were not shared during the meeting, but Lacey City Council member Carolyn Cox, who serves on the Regional Housing Council, recently explained the program. The housing council, she said, has approved a recommendation to spend $111,000 on a six-month pilot program to monitor campfire safety.
Before the board voted, they first had to address one hiccup discovered during the meeting: The time for Wednesday’s meeting (which was 10 a.m.) was not clearly identified on the ORCAA website.
Because of that, some board members felt they should delay their vote a month to give the public more time to submit written comment. Other board members disagreed, saying ORCAA had given the public the appropriate notice because a legal notice identified the meeting time.
In the end, they voted.
“I’m ready to go,” said Tumwater City Council member Joan Cathey.
This story was originally published January 12, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
