Chelan County, WA Fire Regulations: Wildfire Zones (2026)

Designation starts with the fire advisory board's chairman notifying the sheriff, the public works director, and the fire marshal in writing of a recommendation to designate a fire hazard area; the sheriff then carries that recommendation, with a proposed resolution, to the Board of County Commissioners for action (Section 7.52.020(1)). The board may officially determine and publicly announce a designation, and later announce its withdrawal, weighing the need to protect public and private land from fire danger during high-risk parts of the year (Section 7.52.020(2)).

For that purpose, the chapter splits the county into two zones based on the Central and Northeast Washington Interagency Fire Danger Operating Plan: a Valley Zone made up of unincorporated land within Chelan County Fire Districts 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8, and a Chelan Mountain Zone made up of unincorporated land within Fire Districts 3, 9 (Lake Wenatchee Fire and Rescue), and 10 (Section 7.52.020(3)). Any change to these designations requires a board resolution on the fire advisory board's written recommendation, following the same process as the original designation (Section 7.52.020(4)).

The fire advisory board itself, defined in Section 7.52.050, includes the U.S. Forest Service, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the county fire marshal, the sheriff, emergency management, the county's fire districts, and Fish and Wildlife. Once a designation is made, Section 7.52.060 requires notice to local media, the sheriff, public works, the fire marshal, emergency management, the Forest Service, DNR, the fire districts, Fish and Wildlife, the Chelan-Douglas Utility Council, and the county's public information office, and Section 7.52.070 requires signs posted at points of restriction on county roads. Separately, Chapter 7.54 shows the board has also adopted the 2025 Chelan County Community Wildfire Protection Plan by resolution.