Which wood burning rule applies at your address
The rule depends on the county line, not the city limit sign. Portland, Gresham and the rest of Multnomah County live under one ordinance, part of Washington County under another, and Clackamas County under none that we could find.
Multnomah County’s ordinance covers wood burning across the county and can be triggered by poor air in any month. Washington County’s ordinance is seasonal and applies only to unincorporated areas, Hillsboro and Cornelius. Everywhere else, Oregon DEQ’s advisories are the signal, and DEQ’s own wood stove page says your community may have additional rules, so a quick call to your city settles it.
Our wood stove page is about the appliance; this guide is about the calendar and the map. The table below is the short version for the places we serve.
| Where you live | Who sets the rule | When restrictions can be called | What a red day means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland, Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview, Wood Village and unincorporated Multnomah County | Multnomah County Health Department ordinance, passed in 2018 and extended to the whole year in February 2022 | Any day the county forecasts poor air quality | No wood burning in stoves, fireplaces, fire pits or chimineas unless you hold an approved exemption |
| Unincorporated Washington County, Hillsboro and Cornelius | Washington County ordinance in effect since November 6, 2015; the county says the color system also applies in Hillsboro and Cornelius | November 1 to March 1 | No fireplace or wood stove use unless exempt; pellet stoves are not restricted |
| Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, Sherwood, Forest Grove and the other Washington County cities | No city ordinance found in our research | DEQ advisories only | Voluntary; the county’s rule stops at the city line |
| Clackamas County, including Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Oregon City, West Linn, Happy Valley, Wilsonville, Canby and Sandy | No county or city wood smoke ordinance found | DEQ advisories, plus fire district outdoor burn bans in dry months | Voluntary indoors; outdoor burning follows the fire agency |
How a Multnomah County red day works
On a red day in Multnomah County no one burns wood unless they hold an exemption, on a yellow day the county asks you to consider limiting burning, and on a green day there is no restriction.
The county posts the day’s status by 11 a.m., and each status runs from noon until noon the next day, so a red day called this morning still covers tonight’s fire. The status lives on the county’s wood burning status page, and the county also posts it on social media, Nextdoor included, and through local news, with email and text alerts for anyone who signs up.
The ordinance covers wood stoves, pellet stoves, open fireplaces, outdoor fire pits and chimineas. Cooking food over wood is exempt, and the county lists charcoal grills, smokers and wood-fired ovens as allowed.
The county’s FAQ, written when the program was seasonal, says poor air is most likely in fall and winter weather, and that is still when most restrictions land. The Board of Commissioners extended the ordinance to the whole year in February 2022, and the county has since called warm-season restrictions when wildfire smoke settled over the metro, including one in late August 2023.
Enforcement runs on complaints. The first complaint at an address brings a letter with educational material, a second may bring a site visit, and a third complaint plus verified smoke can lead to a fine.
Washington County’s November to March season
Washington County’s ordinance lets the county call air quality advisories between November 1 and March 1 each year, and the color system covers unincorporated Washington County plus Hillsboro and Cornelius, which adopted similar ordinances.
A red day means air quality is unhealthy and no fireplace or wood stove may be used unless you are exempt. A yellow day means the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups and the county asks you to hold off voluntarily. Enforcement is complaint-driven, and the ordinance does not restrict pellet stoves.
The county’s current page lists four exceptions: wood is your only source of heat, your household qualifies as low-income, utility service (electricity or natural gas) is interrupted, or your primary heating system is temporarily not working, for no more than 120 days. Residents of unincorporated areas with hauler pickup also live under a separate year-round ban on burning yard debris.
Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, Sherwood and Forest Grove sit outside the ordinance as the county describes it, and our research found no city rule in any of them. A fireplace owner there watches DEQ’s advisories, and the county’s red day is advice rather than a rule.
Clackamas County and the rest of the metro
Clackamas County has no wood smoke ordinance that our research could find, and neither do Lake Oswego, West Linn, Oregon City, Milwaukie, Happy Valley, Gladstone, Wilsonville, Canby or Sandy.
Behind the local programs sits the state framework. DEQ’s curtailment rule defines a Stage I advisory, called when the fine particle standard is being approached, and a Stage II advisory, called when an exceedance is forecast as imminent.
The statute behind that rule requires two stages based on projected air quality, with exemptions for households at or below 125 percent of the poverty level, homes heated solely by a solid fuel device, and pellet stoves outside nonattainment areas.
On a smoky day in Clackamas County, DEQ’s Air Quality Today map and the OregonAir app are the signal to watch. The county’s fire agencies issue separate outdoor burn bans in the dry months, and those cover fire pits and yard debris rather than the stove in the living room.
Exemptions, and why to apply before the cold snap
In Multnomah County an exemption is something you apply for before you burn, not something you claim after a complaint arrives, and every exemption expires on September 30 and must be renewed each year.
Multnomah County’s list has three main doors: wood or pellets as the only way to heat the main living space, household income at or below 60 percent of the Oregon median, and a power outage, service interruption or failed main heating system, for 120 days only. The application is free.
The sole-source exemption has a catch that surprises people. If the house has a permanently installed and connected furnace or heating system, the county does not count wood as the sole source of heat, however rarely that system runs.
Washington County’s page lists the four exceptions named above and links no application form. If you heat an unincorporated farmhouse with a stove alone, contact the county before November rather than after the first red day.
How to check before you light a fire
Checking is quick once you know where to look, and the order below works for any address in the metro.
- Find your county, not your mailing city. A Portland address can sit in Washington County or Clackamas County, and the county boundary decides which ordinance applies.
- In Multnomah County, open the county’s wood burning status page. It shows green, yellow or red for the day and is updated by 11 a.m.
- In Washington County, check the county’s air quality page or sign up for red day alerts through Public Alerts. The season only runs November 1 to March 1.
- Everywhere, look at DEQ’s Air Quality Today map or the OregonAir app. A reading of 50 or below is good air; the higher the number climbs, the more reason to skip the fire whatever the ordinance says.
- If you hold an exemption, keep the approval where you can find it and renew it before September 30.
What the rules mean for a fireplace or stove owner
A red day restricts burning, not maintenance, and the cleaner your fire burns on green days the less you contribute to the next red one.
Smoke is what these ordinances measure, and smoke comes from cool, smoldering fires: wet wood, a stove damped down overnight, a flue that never got hot. Dry, split firewood and a fire given enough air keep smoke off the roofline; our seasoned firewood guide covers how long fir and oak take to dry here.
If an unlabeled older stove or insert still heats the house, Oregon’s home-sale law adds a second rule: the unit comes out and gets destroyed when the house sells unless it is exempt; the stove removal guide covers who does what and when.
Restrictions do not touch a sweep or an inspection, since both happen on a cold flue. A red day is a reasonable day to book the wood stove sweep you have been putting off, and a chimney sweep on an open fireplace before the first cold snap means you are not lighting the season’s first fire into a flue nobody has looked at.
In wildfire season the problem reverses: the smoke is outside and the flue is a path for it to come in. Closing the damper, or fitting a top-sealing damper on a flue whose throat damper no longer seats, keeps an idle fireplace from pulling smoke into the house on a day you are trying to keep it out; damper repair is the fix when the plate will not close.