Sean C. Morgan
Fire danger went to “high” Thursday on Linn Fire Protective Association lands while fire danger is ranked “extreme” throughout most of the rest of the state.
“Everything’s hot and dry,” said Craig Pettinger, unit forester with the Oregon Department of Forestry Sweet Home Unit. “It’s just a heightened awareness kind of thing.”
The Industrial Fire Precaution Level is at two, Pettinger said. If it hits level three, it will restrict industrial activity substantially.
The weather is supposed to cool a little, but there are no storms or rain in the forecast, Pettinger said. At this point, the fire season appears to be a couple of weeks ahead of schedule with above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation.
Elsewhere, some 55 fires were burning on Douglas Forest Protective Association lands, Pettinger said. Around the state, a total of 70 fires were burning as of Friday, and “they’re still finding them.”
The Douglas Complex was at 13,400 acres Monday.
A lightning storm stopped short of Sweet Home last week, he said.
As of Friday, Sweet Home has had 18 fire calls since July 1, said Forest Protection Supervisor Chad Calderwood.
Friday, Sweet Home Unit firefighters responded to a debris burn, Pettinger said. No one should be lighting anything right now. All open burning is prohibited.
A fire near Cascadia Drive on July 21 is the largest fire in the Sweet Home area so far, Calderwood said. It burned about seven-tenths of an acre.
It started from a charcoal cooking fire that had been left unattended, Calderwood said. Crews responded quickly and arrived after about 15 minutes. Cascadia residents were holding a fire meeting when the fire started. Using a 44-gallon holding tank and a hose, they were able to knock it down.
Earlier that week, Sweet Home Unit firefighters were busy chasing some lightning and smoke sightings following a storm, but they didn’t find anything, Calderwood said.