June 27, 2018
LA GRANDE,
Ore — With the start of fire season Thursday, June 28 in the Oregon Department of
Forestry’s Northeast Oregon District, all lands protected by the state agency
will be in a declared fire season.
Forecasted
higher temperatures and drier conditions prompted ODF fire managers in the
Northeast Oregon District to declare fire season for forest and range lands
protected by ODF in Baker, Umatilla, Union and Wallowa counties along with
small portions of Malheur, Morrow, and Grant counties.
|
Above: When fire season starts June 28 in northeast Oregon,
all lands statewide protected by ODF districts and
fire protection associations will be in fire season. |
“Long range
forecasts indicate high to extreme fire danger beginning in July and extending
through September across the district,” Justin Lauer, Pendleton Wildland Fire
Supervisor said. “The light fuels in the lower elevations will cure out quickly
and carry fire readily.”
The fire
season declaration places fire prevention restrictions on landowners and the public.
Additionally, fire prevention regulations on industrial logging and forest
management activities are put into place. Lands affected include private,
state, county, municipal, and tribal lands within the Northeast Oregon Forest
Protection District. This area encompasses approximately 2 million protected
acres. The public are urged to use caution in areas of dry, cured vegetation.
Lauer stated,
“It’s easy to be complacent when we’ve had a few days of storms, but fuel
conditions and weather will change rapidly. We need everyone to use caution,
check regulations before they head out and keep an eye out for fires while
they’re out and about.”
During fire season
in northeast Oregon:
• Burn permits
for burn barrels and all open burning except camp fires are required on all
private forest and range lands within the Northeast Forest Protection District
of the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF). Contact your local ODF office in La
Grande, Baker City, Wallowa, or Pendleton to acquire a burn permit.
• Landowners
who conducted burning of slash piles last fall and this spring are encouraged
to check the piles to ensure they are completely out and all heat is gone. It
is not uncommon for recently burned slash piles to retain heat in them for
several months after the actual burning of the piles.
• Logging and
other industrial operations must meet requirements for fire prevention, such as
fire tools, water supply, and watchman service when those operations are
occurring on lands protected by ODF. Contact your local Stewardship Forester at
any ODF office for more information.
• Campfires
must be dead out! Recreationists are reminded that campfires need to be
attended and fully extinguished before being left. Get permission from the
landowner prior to starting a campfire.
To report a
fire, dial 9-1-1.
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June 26, 2018
|
Above: Firefighters are completing control lines
and mopping up on the Graham Fire northeast of Sisters.
Over 300 personnel have been engaged on the fire,
which was stopped at 2,175 acres.
|
SISTERS, Ore. – After three days with no
additional perimeter growth and well-established control lines, the ODF
Incident Management Team 2 will be handing management of the Graham Fire in Jeffeson County back
to Oregon Department of Forestry’s Central Oregon District Wednesday morning, June 27. Control
lines around the fire’s perimeter have been mopped up to at least 50 feet.
However, local residents may still expect to see occasional smoke from pockets
of unburnt fuel smoldering in the fire’s interior. If residents see flames or
spot fires they are advised to call 911.
Resources on the fire today
include: 10 hand crews, 2 helicopters, 17 engines, 1 dozer, 3 water tenders and
338 personnel. Containment is estimated at 85 percent
ODF’s Central Oregon District will continue
the use of additional engines and fire crews to achieve 100-percent
containment. The district strategies will include daily engine patrols and mop
up operations.
The Graham Fire was a hot,
fast-moving wildfire driven by strong winds, dry conditions and light flashy
fuels that burned in the wildland urban interface in and around the community
of Three Rivers. The firestorm torched trees and produced 100-foot flame
lengths. Thanks to the responsive efforts of local wildland and structural
suppression forces, as well as prior defensible space created by local
residents, the fire was held to 2,175 acres.
Team 2 fire managers leave behind
an excellent safety record. More than 300 personnel were assigned to the
incident and no injuries were reported.
ODF’s Central Oregon District will
continue to provide occasional updates on the fire status.
###
June 22, 2018
Private lands protected by ODF and Lake Chinook Fire and Rescue, as well as some BLM lands, are affected by the Graham Fire in central Oregon, which Gov. Brown has declared a Conflagration. The 2,055-acre Graham Fire is located in southern Jefferson County north of Sisters and south of Lake Billy Chinook. The fire was reported at around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, June 21. It is burning in an area of grass, brush and scattered juniper. Hundreds of homes are located in developments in the area. The Jefferson County Sheriff issued Level 3 evacuation orders (GO!) yesterday for many residences in the Three Rivers subdivision threatened by the fire. Those are still in effect. The threat to homes also qualifies the fire for partial reimbursement of suppression costs by FEMA.
Local firefighters have been engaged on the fire since yesterday, joined by structural teams from the Oregon Office of the State Fire Marshal. Ground forces have been aided by aerial resources including single-engine airtankers and heavy airtankers. Good progress was made overnight towards containment. The fire has burned into some complex canyon terrain, where it will take additional efforts to establish containment lines.
A Central Oregon Fire Management Service (COFMAS) Type 3 Team has been managing the wildland fire operations since last night, with the Oregon Office of the State Fire Marshal Green Team in charge of structural firefighting activities since midnight because of the threat to homes in the area.
ODF is sending its Incident Management Team 2 to the fire. The Team, headed by South Cascade District Forester Chris Cline, will arrive at 3 p.m. today for an in-briefing from the local team. The plan is for ODF to take unified command of the fire at 6 p.m. today with the OSFM Green Team.
Multiple resources are on scene and firefighters will continue to mop up around structures, flank the edge of the fire and try to contain the fire that is pushing to the northeast through Big Canyon. Additional resources have been ordered and are arriving today. Warm temperatures are anticipated in the next few days along with the return of windy conditions, which will continue to push firefighters working on the fire.
Residents and the public are reminded not to cross roadblocks into evacuation areas. Some structures may have been damaged by the fire, but due to safety concerns firefighters have not been able to investigate all areas of the fire. For further information regarding evacuations, please refer to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Facebook site or call the Jefferson County Sheriff at 541-475-6520. Oregon State Fire Marshal is assessing properties within the fire boundary.
Statewide, there is a continuing risk of holdover fires from the recent lightning storms that passed over many parts of Oregon. Winds are expected to pick up on the east slopes of the Cascades and into the basins on the east side. With schools out and late June weekends being a traditional time when many Oregonians head for the outdoors, fires started by humans are also a cause for concern.
June 21, 2018
|
Above: Firefighters train at last year’s Interagency
Wildland Fire School, which is again being held
in Sweet Home the last week in June. |
SWEET HOME, Ore.
– Oregon Department of Forestry personnel will be among over 200 wildland firefighters and instructors convening in Sweet Home at
the end of June to take part in the annual five day Mid-Willamette Valley
Interagency Wildland Fire School. Officials from the U.S. Forest Service,
Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), U.S Fish and Wildlife Service,
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are
hosting the training to prepare new firefighters for fighting fire, both in
Oregon’s forests and in rural-urban interface areas.
Co-Incident
Commanders Shawn Sheldon, Deputy Fire Staff for the BLM and Willamette
National Forest; and Craig Pettinger, Unit Forester for ODF in Sweet Home, see
fire school as an opportunity to train firefighters in both tactical skills and
safety.
“This is the 22nd
year our agencies have collaborated for this,” said Sheldon. “Fire School provides crucial education and training in wildland
fire to new firefighters and gives career firefighters a chance to refresh
their skills and explore leadership opportunities.”
Trainees will
spend the first part of the week in a classroom. Classes include basic fire
behavior, weather, map and compass use, teamwork, safety, use of engines, tools
and hose lays, fighting fire in the rural-urban interface and fire
investigation. Students will sleep in tents at Sweet Home High School and eat
meals together, giving them a taste of life in a real fire camp.
The course is capped
with a live fire exercise on Friday, June 29 just outside of Sweet Home. This
will give trainees a final challenge: applying their newly acquired skills to
suppress and mop-up a real fire.
“Cascade Timber Consulting, Inc., a local landowner, provides
a new field site each year and we are very grateful,” added Sheldon. “The live
fire exercise significantly enhances the students’ training experience –
working in smoke, hiking through uneven terrain, and working closely with crew
members to dig fireline, are all things they’ll experience this season as
wildland firefighters.”
Safety principles of fire training include wearing protective
gear, safe use of tools and being on the lookout for hazards. “Safety is
paramount in every aspect of wildland firefighting, and it begins with our
training exercises,” explained Pettinger. “Working together
in a training setting improves communications and builds effective
relationships for the agencies to draw on during fire season.”
This year, the field site that will be used for the
live fire exercise is located approximately 5 miles east of Sweet Home adjacent
to Highway 20. Fire officials are urging the public to use caution as there
will be increased fire traffic in the area and the potential for visible smoke
on Friday, June 29. For more information, please
contact Public Information Officers Chiara Cipriano, (541) 731-4427, or Jim Gersbach, (503) 945-7425.
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June 21, 2018
SALEM, Ore.
— Three Oregon Department of Forestry fire protection districts from the
mid-coast through the southern Willamette Valley to the crest of the Cascades
entered fire season beginning Thursday, June 21. ODF-protected lands covered by the declaration include state,
private, county, and city forestland, as well as Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) forestlands in western Oregon.
The West Oregon, Western Lane and South Cascade districts
protect lands in Benton, Lane, Lincoln, Polk, southern Linn County and a
portion of northwest Douglas County.
An
unusually dry May and early June prompted the declarations.
|
Above; Despite recent showers, much of the southern and central
Willamette Valley and surrounding foothills are dry enough
to prompt state fire officials to declare fire season started. |
“We’ve received a
couple shots of rain recently, but that doesn’t make up for the dry spring
we’ve experienced this year. The result is that we are a couple weeks ahead of
where we traditionally are regarding fuel moistures and fire conditions in the
forest,” said Western Lane District Forester Link Smith.
Chris Cline
is district forester for ODF’s South Cascade District based in Springfield. He
said fuel moistures in eastern Lane and southern Linn counties are already
similar to what they historically would be for the beginning of July. “We look
carefully at local conditions in determining when to declare the start of fire
season. What they are telling us is that in our district it is now dry enough
for wildfires that do start to have the potential to spread more rapidly.”
As of June
20, more than 200 wildfires were reported on ODF-protected lands throughout Oregon.
These burned just over 200 acres. More than 80% of those fires were caused by
people. In light of those numbers, West Oregon District Forester Mike Totey
said, “Most wildfires at this time of year are triggered by people, so they are
almost entirely preventable with some foresight. An activity that might be low
risk when vegetation is thoroughly soaked and humidity is high could ignite a
wildfire when longer hours of sunlight, warmth and relatively light rainfall
have started drying those fuels out.”
Fire restrictions
in ODF districts vary somewhat. To find out what restrictions are in place at
any given location, go online to ODF’s statewide fire restrictions and closures
page at www.oregon.gov/ODF/Fire/Pages/Restrictions.aspx
or call the ODF office below that is nearest:
·
Western Lane (Veneta) – 541-935-2222
·
West Oregon (Philomath) – 541-929-6300 and press
1
·
South Cascade – (Springfield) – 541-726-3588 and
press 2
Six other ODF districts and
forest protective associations in southern and eastern Oregon have been in fire
season since earlier this month due to warm, dry conditions that have elevated
fire risk.
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