Fire restrictions on BLM land in the Coos Bay District eased this morning, and you still cannot have a campfire at a dispersed site. The new order took effect at 12:01 a.m. on September 17, 2026 and drops the district from HIGH to MODERATE. Open fire remains prohibited everywhere except eight named campgrounds.
We read the signed order on September 17, 2026. It is issued under 43 CFR 9212.1(h) and 9212.2, signed September 16 by acting District Manager Stephanie Messerle, and it supersedes the HIGH order in place since July 25, 2026.
The eight campgrounds where fire is allowed are East Shore, Loon Lake, Vincent Creek, Fawn Creek, Smith River Falls, Park Creek, Edson Creek and Sixes River. Charcoal briquettes count as open fire. A stove or lantern with a shut-off valve running gas, jellied petroleum or pressurized liquid fuel is fine anywhere.
The requirement most people do not know about
The order does not only prohibit. It requires you to carry equipment, whether or not you intend to light anything.
Every motorized vehicle except a motorcycle must carry a shovel no less than 26 inches long with a blade no less than 8 inches wide, plus an axe or other firefighting tool with a handle no less than 26 inches. Every motorized vehicle, motorcycles included, must carry either a water container filled to at least one gallon or a fully charged 2.5-pound ABC fire extinguisher.
That is a checkable list. A camp shovel with a 20 inch handle does not meet it.
The rest of what MODERATE still means
- Smoking only inside a vehicle or building, or standing in a cleared or barren circle at least three feet across.
- Driving off road only where the ground is clear of flammable vegetation, and parking off road only on barren ground. In practice that rules out pulling into tall dry grass to camp.
- Generators only in an area free of flammable material for at least ten feet in all directions, and no internal combustion engine without a working spark arrester. Ten feet is wider than the three foot circle some other districts write, which is why carrying a generator rule over from one order to another goes wrong.
- Chainsaws before 10 a.m. and after 8 p.m. only, with a shovel and a 2.5-pound extinguisher on site and a one hour fire watch afterward. Battery and electric saws are exempt from the hours. If you cut firewood this fall, that is your window.
- Welding, grinding and cutting metal prohibited.
Layered underneath all of it is the statewide BLM Oregon and Washington Fire Prevention Order issued May 14, 2026, which the Coos Bay order says remains in effect. Per the order, it prohibits fireworks and pyrotechnics, exploding targets and other explosive devices, tracer or steel-component ammunition, sky lanterns, and shooting at metallic objects.
The penalty language is not decorative. The order classifies a violation as a Class A misdemeanor, with a fine up to $100,000 and up to 12 months, plus liability for suppression and damage costs.
What to do this week
Do not take “restrictions eased” from a headline, including this one. Open the BLM OR/WA fire restrictions index, find the order for your district, and read the date on the order itself. Several Oregon districts issued or amended orders in early September 2026, and they are not identical.
Then look at the sign at the road junction and the sign at the site. A posted order and a ranger’s current instruction beat any website. Our Oregon free camping page covers the land types, and our fire restrictions guide covers why the stage name alone never answers the campfire question.