Grays Harbor County, WA Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

Chapter 16.28 of the Grays Harbor County Code governs recreational vehicle and travel trailer parks, and Section 16.28.140, Fire protection, is the only place the county code addresses fire pits directly. Subsection C requires that fire pits or bases be constructed of a noncombustible material, and that vegetation or other combustible materials be kept a safe distance from the pit. The code does not print a specific number of feet for that distance, leaving the safe-distance judgment to the park operator and to whichever local fire district or the fire marshal inspects the park.

The same section folds the fire-pit rule into the park's broader fire-protection package. Subsection A requires the park's water supply to have adequate fire-protection capability, approved by the local fire district, in accordance with sound planning and engineering practice. Subsection B requires an approved firefighting vehicle or other permanent firefighting equipment on site whenever the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Forest Service, the local fire district, or the board of county commissioners requires it, given the park's wildland setting on the Pacific coast and near the Olympic rainforest. Subsection D lets the county require fire-break trails where the terrain and available firefighting resources make them necessary to keep a fire from spreading to neighboring property. Because Chapter 16.28 applies specifically to licensed recreational vehicle and travel trailer parks under Chapter 8.20's licensing scheme, a homeowner burning in a backyard fire pit outside a licensed park is not covered by this section; Grays Harbor County's own code simply does not contain a general recreational-fire ordinance for that setting.