← South Coast Conditions

Guide

Fire season: fire danger and IFPL

Checked September 11, 2026 against the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), the Coos Forest Protective Association (CFPA) and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

The Fire tile shows two levels: the fire danger, and the Industrial Fire Precaution Level, or IFPL. They are separate systems for different people, and neither one tells you whether you may burn.

This page does not give today’s levels. Those are on the Fire tile and at coosfpa.net, or call CFPA’s closures line, 541-267-1789. Before you light anything, check with CFPA and your city or fire district.

Who sets them

On this coast the fire protection agency is the Coos Forest Protective Association, a private non-profit that works under an agreement with the Oregon State Forester. It covers about 1.5 million acres of private, state, county and federal land in Coos and Curry counties and western Douglas County (in Douglas, west of Scott Creek County Park). The restrictions are issued as an ODF proclamation for the Coos district, and ODF publishes the levels on its maps, which is where the board reads them.

Other landowners can add their own rules. ODF’s own map says other agencies may have additional restrictions, so a national forest, BLM land, a state park or a city can be stricter.

Fire danger: the public rules

Fire danger has four levels: Low (green), Moderate (blue), High (yellow) and Extreme (red). CFPA’s public use restrictions are set by this level. As it climbs, campfires, chainsaw use that is not for work, mowing dried grass, and cutting or welding metal are restricted step by step: to certain places or to the early and late hours of the day, then not at all. Some rules hold at every level of the chart; fireworks, for example, are prohibited except for displays the State Fire Marshal permits. The exact rules and hours are in CFPA’s public use chart for the current year.

Campfires, as CFPA describes them: at green, allowed with the landowner’s approval; at blue, only at designated sites; at yellow, only at campgrounds hosted and managed around the clock; at red, not allowed. Only firewood goes in a campfire. It is not a place to burn debris.

IFPL: the rules for logging and other industrial work

IFPL applies to industrial and commercial operations, such as logging crews. ODF defines four levels for land it protects west of the Cascades:

Using a chainsaw on your own place, not for work, falls under the public rules above, not IFPL. CFPA says that during fire season a non-commercial saw user keeps a firewatch for at least an hour after cutting stops, and an industrial operation for two hours.

Burning is a third, separate question

The board says it plainly on the tile: burning is not covered by either level. CFPA does not allow yard or household debris burning during fire season, burn barrels included, and does not issue permits then. It can also ban burning at any time, even outside fire season. DEQ adds that all burning must follow the rules and bans of your city, county, fire department and the State Fire Marshal, and some things may never be burned, such as tires, plastics and wet garbage. If you are not sure, ask before you light it. CFPA says property owners are responsible for an escaped fire and its damage, in or out of season.

Reading the tile

The district is split into zones, and they can be at different levels. The tile shows the strictest level found in any zone, lists the zones, and says whether they agree. When they differ, plan around the strictest.

Sources