Grants Pass suspends open burning after dry, windy weather

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — The City of Grants Pass is canceling open burning indefinitely because of dry, windy conditions.

The city’s Fire Marshal says they’ve rarely had to suspend open burning after fire season is over.

Although he says we’re not likely to see devastating wildfires like right now in California, the potential still exists for a fire to grow rapidly and cause damage to property.

“We are telling people… to cover their burn piles in preparation of the wetter weather. That way when they do burn, they’re able to ignite them and have them burn cleanly and not be soaked and create a lot of smoke issues,” said Fire Marshal Joseph Hyatt, City of Grants Pass.

For things to change, he says we’re going to need to have some significant rainfall to get those fuels re-saturated with water.

They don’t know how long the conditions will last but say the National Weather Service told them at least a week.