As new fire activity has significantly slowed this week and requests for firefighting resources decline, the statewide fire preparedness level dropped to Level 3 on Friday.
While there are still a few large fires on the landscape – the largest in Oregon being Klondike West at 117,458 acres – this is nevertheless an encouraging sign. No ODF incident management teams are deployed at present, although ODF staff are represented on some large fires.
The fire preparedness level is best understood as a measurement of demand for firefighting resources. Lowering the preparedness level reflects a sustained decrease in this demand. ODF and other partners in Oregon’s complete and coordinated system are maintaining formidable firefighting forces and are still putting out new fires with initial attack and battling to fully contain existing blazes.