Sean C. Morgan
The annual burn ban went into effect on Friday, June 12 in Linn, Benton and Marion counties – a few days ahead of schedule.
The Oregon Department of Forestry and fire defense boards of the three counties announced the ban, which aims to reduce the incidence of open debris burns escaping control.
The ban includes all open and backyard burning and will extend through Oct. 15, depending on fire danger.
The ban is in effect earlier than the traditional June 15 “because the weather conditions, lack of snowpack,” said Chad Calderwood, forest protection supervisor with the ODF Sweet Home Unit. “Fuels are drying out at a rapid pace.”
“The risk of fire is dangerously high this year due to the limited snowpack and hot, dry conditions we are already experiencing,” said John Bradner, Linn County Fire Defense Board chief. “Fire departments throughout our region are already responding to grass and wildland fires significantly earlier this summer than normal, which has prompted us to institute an earlier ban.”
The open burning restriction coincides with the current air quality rules set forth by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Those rules already forbid open burning within three miles of cities with more than 1,000 population and six miles from cities with populations larger than 50,000 after June 15. These burn restrictions expand the geographical scope to include areas outside the three- and six-mile limits.
“We encourage you to consider alternatives to burning, such as the Community Wildfire Protection Plan, chipping program, debris recycling and Pacific Region Compost,” said Benton County Fire Defense Board Chief Rick Smith.
The fire defense board chiefs encourage residents to increase their awareness of wildfires and take steps to help protect their property. The work a homeowner does now to establish a defensible space around his or her property can make the difference between a home or structure burning or surviving intact.
Rural fire agencies and the ODF have the authority to enforce and regulate the burn ban, and the ODF may issue citations for violating burning restrictions.
Fire season will probably start earlier than usual too, Calderwood said. “We’re looking at fuel conditions two weeks ahead of normal.”
Fire season could begin this week, he said. Fire crews started working on Monday, and with the potential severity of this fire season, the Sweet Home Unit has hired an additional three firefighters with funds saved from other positions.
Regulated use, which limits campfires, off-highway driving, smoking and other activities, usually takes effect in the Quartzville Corridor just before the Fourth of July.
Fire officials haven’t had that discussion yet, but it may start by July 1, Calderwood said. Officials will continue to monitor the fire danger and implement regulated use when needed.
The Sweet Home Unit had responded to two fire calls already by Friday, June 12. The first one this spring was a burning travel trailer at 28249 Scott Mountain Road.
The fire had spread and started a small grass fire, Calderwood said. No one was injured in the fire. The trailer was destroyed, and Linn County deputies are investigating it as an arson.
The Sweet Home Unit’s new fire detection camera at Green Peter Lookout caught a fire in the McDowell Creek area off Sunnyside Road on Friday, Calderwood said. The smoke apparently originated from logging equipment. The cameras, including Green Peter Lookout and Cougar Rock, are monitored from Douglas County.
Around the state, firefighters had responded to 226 fires, which have burned 505 acres, through Sunday. Since Jan. 1, 70 lightning fires have burned 166 acres, more than triple the average over that period during the last 10 years.
Calderwood said that, at the end of the week, firefighters were wrapping up 21 lightning fires in southwestern Oregon. The largest was 45 acres.
Prineville had a 100-acre lightning fire, he said, and Douglas County had a 100-acre fire in the Corn Creek Valley.
The U.S. Forest Service is seeing drier conditions than usual, he said. With the lack of snow, officials are concerned especially with the 4,000- to 6,000-foot elevations.
For more information, call the Sweet Home Unit at (541) 367-6108 or Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District at (541) 367-5882.