PORT ANGELES — Recent rain has dampened burn restrictions on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest lifted all fire restrictions Wednesday.
Jefferson County followed the state Department of Natural Resources’ lead when it amended its burn ban to Stage 1, which allows briquette cooking, on Saturday.
Clallam County remained at Stage 2 on Thursday morning, but county Fire Marshal Annette Warren said she expected to downgrade the burn ban soon.
Park and forest restrictions were lifted because precipitation lessened the risk of fire, according to Barb Maynes, park spokeswoman.
The restrictions included a ban on campfires outside of developed areas as well as some campgrounds.
Rainfall amounts on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula have reached between 11 and 12 inches so far this month, with amounts of up to 1 to 2 inches on the northeast side, Maynes said.
Fire restrictions in the park began early this year — June 25 — because of a low snowpack and drought, Maynes said.
The state Department of Natural Resources lifted a Stage 2 burn ban on recreational fires in Western Washington on Saturday.
Paradise Fire
National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service firefighters responded to more than 20 fires within the forest and park this summer, the largest being the 2,800-acre Paradise Fire, which continues to smolder in the remote Queets River Valley.
For a description of activities prohibited by the state burn ban, click on www.tinyurl.com/PDN-DNRburnrules.
For Jefferson County information, visit www.ejfr.org.
For Clallam County information, see www.tinyurl.com/PDN-clallamfirerules.
