The Chugach National Forest has issued an emergency fire order for the Kenai Peninsula area, according to a press release from the Chugach National Forest Supervisor office.

The restrictions apply to building, maintaining, attending or using a fire, campfire or stove fire, including charcoal, on the Chugach National Forest, with the exception of the Nellie Juan/College Fiord Wilderness Study Area and the Cordova Ranger District, the release said.

The emergency order went into effect Monday, July 1 and will continue until the fire danger conditions allow.

“Exceptions to the emergency order are: building, maintaining, attending, or using a fire in constructed, permanent firepits or fire grates within identified developed recreation sites,” the release said.

The use of portable stoves, lanterns using gas, jellied petroleum, pressurized liquid fuel or a fully enclosed (sheepherder-type) stove with a 1/4-inch spark arrester-type screen are permitted.

Recreation sites include the Glacier Ranger District, Bertha, Williwaw, Black Bear and Granite Creek Campgrounds, Seward Ranger District, Porcupine, Coeur D’Alene, Tenderfoot, Trail River, Primrose, Ptarmigan, Quartz Creek, Crescent Creek, Cooper Creek, and Russian River campgrounds and public recreation cabins.

Those with a permit or any federal, state or local law enforcement officer or member of an organized rescue or firefighting force in the performance of an official duty are exempt from the order.

Violations of the order are punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 for an individual or $10,000 for an organization, or imprisonment for not more than six months or both, the release said.