Sean C. Morgan
While fire ripped across some 100 acres in Corvallis, forcing the evacuation of more than 200 homes and fire continued to burn more than 3,000 acres in the Oakridge area, the Sweet Home area has been fortunate and avoided any serious fires so far this season.
“It’s quiet,” said Craig Pettinger, Oregon Department of Forestry Sweet Home Unit forester. “We’re trying to keep it that way. We’ve had everything happen around us.”
The Sweet Home Unit provides fire protection services for private forestland and Bureau of Land Management territory in the Sweet Home area.
Any gains by rain a couple of weeks ago had evaporated by last week when the Industrial Precaution Level increased to III, and most landowners have closed their forests to the public.
The fire danger level was set at “high” at the end of the week, Pettinger said. “We might be flirting with the red, the extreme, but we’re not quite there.”
Friday and Saturday carried probably the highest fire danger of the season so far, Pettinger said. He expected the weather to be cooler this week, but it won’t bring moisture. That’s likely followed by a return to high pressure, east winds and no sign of moisture.
So far, the Sweet Home Unit has had small fires, nothing close to a half acre, Pettinger said. The Sweet Home Unit has responded to more than 70 reports, which is a little higher than usual by this point in the fire season.
Pettinger can’t attribute the increase in calls to any particular kind of call, he said, although he hasn’t analyzed the statistics yet.
Sweet Home Unit firefighters have been busy this summer though, he said. “We’ve had a lot of people out and about. Statewide, it’s been another above average year by a substantial amount.”
Anyone who has remained at the Sweet Home Unit has been working six or seven days per week, he said, just to cover for those who have been gone.
Fire season will end with a major rain event, Pettinger said. Last year, that was in September, and it could happen again this year. Still, long-range forecasters predict that September will remain dry.
“We still need to be cautious, now more than ever,” Pettinger said. The energy-to-release component was in the mid-40s on Thursday. That number is based on data from three area weather stations. A rating of 37 and more is considered “high” fire danger. The highest levels the Sweet Home area reaches are in the 50s.