Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home area dodged the brunt of a thunderstorm and resulting forest fires, but the Willamette National Forest numerous fires broke out across several Willamette National Forest districts Monday.
“We experienced a fair amount of lightning the last two, three, four days,” said Oregon Department of Forestry Forest Protection Supervisor Neil Miller of the Sweet Home Unit. There were a few positive strikes, including one near the the Green Peter 300 line, causing a fire in an old-growth stump and affecting another old-growth tree on about one-tenth of an acre on land managed by Cascade Timber Consulting.
Firefighters responded at about 5 p.m. on Saturday and had it under control by about 10 p.m., Miller said. It was mopped up by 11 a.m. on Sunday.
“We had a fair amount of lightning on private land (mostly CTC),” Miller said, but no large fires resulted. ODF personnel ended up assisting the U.S. Forest Service on a fire between Detroit and Cool Camp on the north end of the Soda Fork drainage. That fire amounted to about a tenth of an acre.
“So far, knock on wood, we’re doing pretty well,” Miller said. The storm brought a fair amount of moisture with it, leaving fire danger at “high,” but decreasing the industrial fire precaution level to two.
Things should heat up a little more this week, he said, and that means slowly smoldering sleeper fires caused by lightning could emerge during the next couple of weeks.
The Sweet Home Unit has five employees continuing to work on the Douglas Complex. Everyone else is in district, Miller said.
Firefighters continue to respond to new fires sparked by more than 2,000 lightning strikes over two days in the Willamette National Forest, said spokeswoman Jennifer Velez. Thanks to their efforts many of the fires have been suppressed. Most of the fires burned single trees up to an acre. The remaining fires are small at an acre in size or less.
The majority of the strikes were in the McKenzie and Middle Fork districts with additional strikes in the Detroit and Sweet Home districts.
Warmer and drier conditions are expected through mid-week with a potential for rain over the weekend. The marine layer that is currently situated over the area is aiding firefighters with suppression efforts. Firefighters will continue to look for other new starts as it is very likely that conditions will cause holdover fires to emerge over the next several weeks.
Included below is an overview of current fires on the Willamette National Forest:
n Detroit Ranger District – Twelve fires located in the Boulder Ridge, Whitewater Creek, and Marion Forks areas. Two of the fires are located near the Mount Jefferson Wilderness.
n Sweet Home Ranger District – Two fires located south of the Middle Santiam Wilderness.
n McKenzie River Ranger District – Five fires located in the Three Sisters Wilderness and one fire in the Mount Washington Wilderness. This fire is being monitored due to the unlikely potential for it to spread and to minimize firefighter exposure.
n Middle Fork Ranger District – Fifteen fires located throughout the District. One fire located on a ridge south of Oakridge may produce smoke that is visible from town.
Assistance provided by the Bureau of Land Management and Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, as well as continued support from ODF in responding to fires near private lands on the Sweet Home and Middle Fork Ranger Districts has been greatly appreciated, Velez said.
“There are a lot of factors that go into managing fires in remote areas of the forest, the time of year, current and expected weather; its potential; how we can access the fire; how the fire is burning; and what all that means in terms of the potential threats and benefits to the forest,” said Meg Mitchell, forest supervisor for the Willamette National Forest. “The given is that we always want to engage the fire safely and reduce the risks to firefighters and the public.”
Drier conditions on the south end of the forest could make suppressing current and new fires more challenging in the weeks ahead.
“Our plan is to take the right amount of action at the right time, realizing that every fire is different,” said Mitchell. “Our fire season is just beginning and we have a lot of summer left in front of us, so our strategy is to prioritize and suppress fires that we find in such a way that we reduce the risks to our firefighters and the public. So far, we are managing to keep up with the number of fires we have had with these storms.
“We also stay in close touch with ODF who is suppressing fires on private lands that they protect in these areas, so we are all talking, sharing information and resources.”
There are currently no fire-related closures for the public or restrictions on campfires in the Willamette National Forest.
Forest Service officials urge visitors to continue to be careful with campfires. Forest visitors are asked to report any smokes that they see.
For additional information, call the nearest Ranger District. Fire updates will also be posted on the Willamette National Forest website at http://www.fs.usda.gov/willamette and shared via Twitter at twitter.com/willametteNF.