Sean C. Morgan
The Oregon Department of Forestry Sweet Home Unit responded to five calls on Thursday, two of them small roadside fires as an early strong east wind blew across the area and fire danger spiked to “extreme.”
Sweet Home Unit officials bumped up the fire danger designation Thursday morning as temperatures remained high and moisture levels remained low. The Willamette National Forest increased its Industrial Fire Precaution to Level III, an action taken a week earlier by the Sweet Home Unit.
The National Forest also restricted public use on the forest, prohibiting campfires outside of designated campgrounds and rings, using generators outside of designated recreation areas, smoking except in enclosed vehicles and developed recreation sites, welding and operating a chainsaw. Vehicle use also is restricted.
For additional information about the restrictions, contact the Sweet Home Ranger District at (541) 367-5168.
The area was under a red flag warning, said Sweet Home Unit Forester Craig Pettinger, and the weather was expected to stay hot.
Under those conditions, the Sweet Home area had two fires, one on the side of Piper Lane, and the other along Highway 20 in the Cascadia area.
In both cases, tree branches fell onto power lines and knocked down power lines, which started fires in the grass along the roadway, Pettinger said.
The National Weather Service is predicting the heat wave to end Monday, Sept. 15, with a chance of showers midweek – Wednesday and Thursday – and highs in the 70s.
It’s up in the air whether there will be enough moisture to end fire season.
“It’s really dependent on how much it is,” Pettinger said. “A couple of inches would be terrific.”
In the meantime, he and other fire officials urge caution: “Don’t let a fire get away from you.”
Pettinger said people are reporting fires quickly, and that helps keep them small.
He’d rather receive erroneous reports of fires that don’t exist and catch actual fires while they’re small, he said.
Reporting a fire is easiest by calling 9-1-1, but people can contact the Sweet Home Unit directly at (541) 367-6108.