A center-pivot sprinkler and a field of freshly cut hay near Baker City on June 5, 2025. (Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald)

With hot, dry weather forecast to continue, the Oregon Department of Forestry is tightening restrictions designed to reduce the risk of human-caused fires.

The regulations, which coincide with an increase to high fire danger, take effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, July 2, on about 2 million acres of private, state, county, municipal and tribal lands for which the state agency is responsible for firefighting.

The Northeast District includes Baker, Umatilla, Union and Wallowa counties, and small portions of Grant, Malheur and Morrow counties.

“Forecasts indicate that we will experience typical summer weather in the coming weeks, accompanied by elevated temperatures,” district forester Justin Lauer said in a press release. “Given these conditions and the escalating fire danger, we are enforcing stricter fire restrictions.”

Restrictions include:

• Open fires are prohibited, including campfires, charcoal fires, cooking fires, and warming fires, except at designated locations.

• Portable cooking stoves using liquefied or bottled fuels are allowed.

• Propane fire pits are allowed if they are self-contained and 3 feet away from any flammable fuels with a maximum flame height of 2 feet.

• Non-industrial chain saw use is prohibited from noon to 8 p.m.

• Non-industrial chain saw use is allowed at all other hours if the following firefighting equipment is present with each operating saw: one shovel or other firefighting tool and one 8-ounce or larger fire extinguisher or 1-gallon of water.  In addition, a fire watch is required at least one hour following the end of chain saw use.

• Electric chain saws are allowed all day.

• Cutting, grinding, and welding of metal is prohibited from noon-8 p.m. Cutting, grinding, and welding of metal is permitted at all other hours, if conducted in a 10-foot area cleared of flammable vegetation, shovel or other firefighting tool, a minimum of 1-gallon of water, or 2 ½ pound or larger fire extinguisher.

• Mowing dried and cured grass with power-driven equipment is prohibited from noon to 8 p.m., except for the commercial culture and harvest of agricultural crops.

• Electric string trimmers are allowed all day.

• Any electric fence controller in use shall be: 1) Listed by a nationally recognized testing laboratory or certified by the Department of Consumer and Business Services; and 2) Operated in compliance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

Possession of the following firefighting equipment is required for any vehicle/UTV/ATV traveling on unimproved roadways where flammable vegetation exists on roadway: shovel or other firefighting tool, minimum of 1-gallon of water, or 2 ½ pound or larger fire extinguisher.

• All open debris burning, and the use of burn barrels, is prohibited.

• Fireworks are banned.

• Exploding targets are banned.

• Use of tracer ammunition or any bullet with a pyrotechnic charge in its base is prohibited.

• Smoking while traveling is prohibited, except in vehicles on improved roads, in boats on the water, or in a cleared area free of flammable vegetation.

• Use of sky lanterns is prohibited throughout the year in Oregon.

Fire restrictions in Northeastern Oregon, including on federal lands, which have rules separate from the ODF restrictions, are available at www.bmidc.org or by calling the Northeast Oregon Fire Prevention line: 541-975-3027.