Sean C. Morgan
While the 2016 fire season has been relatively mild so far, fire danger is increasing.
Fire officials are urging people to keep regulated use restrictions in mind.
The Industrial Precaution Level increased to Level II Thursday, and conditions were just shy of “high” for fire danger at the end of the week.
The Oregon Department of Forestry Sweet Home Unit started getting busier just before the Jamboree, said Unit Forester Craig Pettinger. Firefighters responded to two fires that weekend. One was a small spot along the railroad track west of Sweet Home, and the other was a 40- by 50-foot fire in the Sheep Creek area on the Sweet Home Ranger District.
“You’re finally starting to see grass is yellow, grass is dead,” Pettinger siad. “It’s dried and cured, and that’s what’s going to carry a fire. We’re there. We’re flirting with it every day.”
Days like Thursday, the warmest day last week, dry things out, he said. The weather cools and slows the drying process this year, but the Sweet Home area has had no events to increase moisture levels.
That’s causing the energy release component rating, which is what determines the fire danger level, to increase slowly.
“We are almost up to average,” Pettinger said. Thursday, it was at about 33, six points below the average for the date. Fire danger reaches “High” at a rating of 37. Last year on Aug. 4, the energy release component rating was about 63. A mid-July rain storm knocked the rating all the way down to zero.
Before the rain sprinkled Sweet Home on Monday afternoon, the ERC was 35 and with 90-degree temperatures expected later this week, Pettinger expects it to rise to “High.”
That rating considers a variety of factors, such as relative humidity, Pettinger said. “If a fire burns, this is how intense it’s going to be, how much energy it’s going to release.”
The biggest fire so far this year in the Sweet Home area was the 6.3-acre Soda Fork fire in April just off Highway 20. The fire burned uphill from the shop where an electrical system malfunction started it.
Thus far, the Sweet Home Unit has responded to 18 calls, taking action on three of those. Last year at the same point, the unit had responded to 50 calls, taking action on nine fires.
“We are in way better shape, but the threat still exists,” Pettinger said.
With the increasing fire danger, the ODF is urging people to remember restrictions on ODF-protected lands, located outside the city limits. Among them are the following:
– Smoking is prohibited while traveling except in vehicles on improved roads, in boats on the water or in designated locations.
– Open fires are prohibited including campfires, charcoal fires and warming fires except at designated locations. Portable cooking stoves using liquefied or bottled fuels are allowed.
– The use of power saws is prohibited during extreme fire danger and between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. under lower fire danger levels. Each power saw requires a shovel and 8-oz. fire extinguisher nearby.
– Cutting, grinding and welding of metal is prohibited during extreme fire danger and between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. under lower fire danger levels. When allowed, it must be conducted in a cleared area with a charged garden hose or a 2.5-pound fire extinguisher available.
– Mowing dried grass is prohibited during extreme fire danger and between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. at lower fire danger levels. The culture and harvest of agricultural crops is exempt.
– Motor vehicles are allowed only on improved roads free of flammable vegetation except for the culture and harvest of agricultural crops.
– Possession of firefighting equipment is required while traveling except on state highways, county roads and driveways. Required equipment includes a shovel and one gallon of water or a 2.5-pound fire extinguisher. All-terrain vehicles and motorcycles must be equipped with a 2.5-pound fire extinguisher.
– Use of fireworks is prohibited.
– Electric fence controllers must be listed with a nationally recognized testing laboratory or certified by the Department of Consumer and Business Services and operated in compliance with manufacturer’s instructions.
– The use of fuses and caps for blasting is prohibited except with forester approval. The release of sky lanterns is prohibited, and the discharge of exploding targets and tracer ammunition is prohibited.