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Above: ODF employee Trevor Madison checks equipment
being returned after a wildfire in southern Oregon
to see if any need repair. Most existing Oregon wildfires
are largely contained now and in mop up or patrol.
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With few new fires in the Pacific Northwest and existing fires largely contained and in mop up or patrol, more firefighting resources have become available regionally. That’s true even with the demobilization of the Oregon National Guard and U.S. Army troops from Joint Base Lewis-McChord. This prompted fire officials at the Northwest Interagency Coordinating Center last week to lower the Pacific Northwest’s preparedness level from 5, where it has been for more than a month, to 4. They lowered it further on Monday of this week to 3. The wildfire preparedness level nationally has been at 3 since Sept. 22.
A lower preparedness level at the regional level does not mean a lowering of readiness to fight wildfires. It reflects a better match between the availability of firefighting resources and the expected demand for them.