Residential Open Burning
The Backyard Burn season will reopen Friday, March 1 and is anticipated to run through June 15. City of Happy Valley residents MUST apply for a Backyard Burn permit. Please note, more than one acre of land is REQUIRED
Backyard burning permits do not apply to recreational fires (campfire, cooking fire or warming fires). Recreational fires are small and to be no larger than three feet in diameter and two feet high. As always, please exercise caution when enjoying fires of a recreational nature.
*To determine if you live within CFD’s response area, please visit this map: CFD Burn Restriction Lookup. Place your address within the search bar found in the upper left corner. The RED outlined boundary found on the map is Clackamas Fire District’s response area.
Complaints related to smoke or burning of trash are to be reported using the DEQ complaint form.
Burn Permit Application
Requirements and Fees
- Prior to burning, call the Daily Burn Message Line at (503) 742-2945 to determine if it is a burn day and the hours in which burning is allowed. All fires must be smoke free by the end of the prescribed burn hours.
- More than ONE acre of land is required to acquire a burn permit.
- Only organic plant materials such as yard, tree, and garden debris may be burned.
Prohibited Materials
No person shall cause or allow to be initiated or maintained any open burning of any:
- Garbage
- Plastic
- Wire insulation
- Automobile parts
- Asphalt
- Petroleum products
- Petroleum treated material
- Rubber products
- Animal remains
- Animal or vegetable matter resulting from handling, preparation, cooking, or service of food or any material which normally emits dense smoke or noxious odors
If you have any questions regarding prohibited materials, please call the Department of Environmental Quality Air Quality Division at (503) 229-5263 or (800) 452-4011.
Open Burning Safety Rules
- Open fires must be limited in size, must be controlled, and must not be a hazard to people, property, or standing vegetation.
- No fire may be larger than 10′ x 10′ x 10′ without a special burn permit. A minimum of 25′ clearance from other combustibles or structures is required.
- Combustibles that would contribute to the spread of fire should be removed from around burn piles. The width of the fire break should follow this guideline: pile height plus the pile width, divided by four.
- A garden hose connected to a water supply and a shovel or other approved fire extinguishing equipment must be readily available.
- Burning material shall be constantly attended by a person knowledgeable in the use of the fire extinguishing equipment. An attendant shall supervise the burning material until the fire has been extinguished.
- Burning of materials in any manner where smoke or flame damages or endangers persons or property of others is prohibited.
- All fires shall be extinguished and smoke-free two hours before sunset, unless otherwise specified by the prescribed burn hours on the Burn Information Number (503) 742-2945. No fuels may be added to the fire within two hours before sunset, and the fire shall not be stoked up during this time (so that the fire will cool down during the hours of darkness). The intent is that no open flames are visible at night that may be reported as a hostile brush or structure fire.