Before Your First Fire: Burn Bans and Wood-Burning Rules in Pierce County

In 2009 EPA designated the Tacoma-Pierce County area as out of compliance with the federal 24-hour standard for fine particles, known as PM2.5. Washington's Department of Ecology traced the problem mainly to home heating smoke on cold, calm winter evenings, when stagnant air holds it close to the ground. EPA later put residential wood combustion at 74 percent of direct PM2.5 emissions on winter days in the affected area, and in 2012 Ecology noted it was the only area in the state still missing the standard.

The area was redesignated as meeting the standard effective March 12, 2015, and it now operates under the first of two required 10-year maintenance plans. Burn bans and the stove rule below are part of how it stays there. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department still notes that winter air in the county can turn unhealthy because of wood stoves.

Puget Sound Clean Air Agency calls air quality burn bans in Pierce County under the state curtailment rule, WAC 173-433-150. The two stages restrict different devices, and the exemption is the same for both: the wood device must be the home's only adequate heat source, and the agency must have approved an exemption beforehand.

The Health Department states that the clean air agency can fine up to $2,500 for burning during a ban, and in Tacoma the Fire Department can also cite someone for violating a ban order or burning illegal fuel. Ecology reports that after enforcement was stepped up in Tacoma-Pierce County, fewer than 10 percent of people who received a ticket burned again during later bans.

The exemption is narrow. High heating bills do not qualify, a furnace that is temporarily broken does not qualify, and even an exempt household may not produce visible smoke.

Since October 1, 2015 it has been illegal to buy, sell, give away, reinstall or operate an uncertified wood stove or insert inside the Tacoma-Pierce County Smoke Reduction Zone. EPA- and Oregon-certified stoves are not affected, and open fireplaces fall outside this particular rule, though they still go dark during every ban. The agency publishes the zone as a map, so check your address against it rather than assuming by city name.

An uncertified unit has to be removed and recycled or rendered inoperable, which the agency describes as breaking off the doors so they cannot go back on, or punching holes in the firebox. Pierce County homeowners can receive $500 from the agency for recycling a working old stove or insert, or a certified unit that does not meet the 2020 EPA standards. Ecology counted about 5,000 uncertified stoves removed in the area between 2012 and 2019.

Only dry, seasoned wood or manufactured logs are allowed. Garbage, treated or painted wood, plastics and paper, except a little to start the fire, are prohibited. Visible smoke at the chimney top is capped too: opacity above 20 percent is a violation once it lasts six straight minutes in any hour, which in practice means a well-burning fire should show little more than heat shimmer at the top of the stack once it is going.

Wet wood is the usual reason a fire smolders and smokes. It also cools the flue and leaves more creosote on the walls, which is the fuel for a chimney fire later in the season.

Rules aside, the chimney has sat idle and wet since spring. The State Fire Marshal, citing USFA, reports that chimneys, flues and fuel burners were behind 77 percent of residential heating fires in 2024, and advises an annual professional inspection and cleaning plus a chimney cap.

Open the damper and look up with a flashlight for daylight, nesting material or fallen debris. Check that the cap is still on top and that the firebox bricks and mortar are intact. Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. If you are unsure when the flue was last swept, or last season ended with a strong odor or smoky starts, have it looked at first. Sweeps booked through us are $189 to $449, and an inspection on its own is $99 plus tax, which comes off any work you approve from the written quote.