Sean C. Morgan
A little moisture the past couple of weeks didn’t go far toward closing down fire season.
The Sweet Home area has been more than 100 days without significant rain, said Craig Pettinger, Oregon Department of Forestry Sweet Home Unit forester. Anything less than a quarter inch is not considered significant.
The ODF South Cascades District, of which Sweet Home Unit is a part, is investigating the cause of an 18-acre fire, the Buck Mountain Fire, off Brush Creek Road just across the Lane County Line south of Crawfordsville. The fire was reported at about 8:15 p.m. on Thursday night.
The Sweet Home Unit is up to 48 or 49 fire calls this season, Pettinger said. A couple of them have been caused by target shooting, while most are abandoned campfires.
The U.S. Forest Service Sweet Home Ranger District, with ODF firefighters from the Sweet Home Unit, put out a human-caused quarter-acre fire on Sept. 26 near the Rooster Rock trailhead in the Menagerie Wilderness north of Highway 20.
“The fire was creeping and smouldering in a pretty steep and rocky area,” U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Jennifer Velez said.
She said rappellers dropped down on Wednesday evening and by Thursday morning containment lines had been established around the blaze.
“We want to remind people that fire season is not over,” she said.
Even though the calendar says summer has passed, the ban on backyard debris burning that began June 15 remains in effect till further notice. The annual burn ban continues with the provision “until further notice” due to the current fire danger.
“The weather patterns need to change to a winter weather model before open outdoor burning can be done safely,” said the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Allison Blair.
Scarcity of firefighting resources also figured into the decision to extend the ban this year. With several large fires burning throughout the West, firefighting resources continue to be stretched thin.
Rural fire agencies and the Oregon Department of Forestry have the authority to enforce and regulate the burn ban. Under Oregon Revised Statute Chapter 477, the department may issue citations for violation of the burning restrictions.
Along with the burn ban, local forests will return to industrial precaution level III on Wednesday, Pettinger said. They were reduced to level II last week, but the forecast shows a big east wind event in the middle to the end of this week.
“Our fire season just keeps hanging on,” Pettinger said. “Right now, we are seeing no rain in the forecast.”
Most industrial land owners, including Cascade Timber Consulting, Weyerhaeuser and others, have closed their grounds too, Pettinger said. “They’re a little on edge.”
Fire danger remains “high,” and regulated use, banning campfires except in designated campgrounds, remains in effect.
“For us to get out is going to require a larger rain event,” Pettinger said. The end of fire season is going to depend on the weather, and dry east winds can keep it going. It’ll take a while for the bigger fuels to recover moisture.
There have been years where firefighters have been combating fires as late as Halloween, he said.
On a related note, Velez said prescribed burns are planned for the Sweet Home Ranger District later in the fall, when officials determine that conditions are favorable for such activity.
Planned burns include the following:
n Approximately 124 acres on Browder Ridge that many require closure of some roads and Browder Ridge and Gate Creek trails;
n Approximately 150 acres on Echo Mountain that may also require some road and trail closures; and
n Approximately 30 acres in the Lodgepole Flats area, with possible road and trail closures.
For more information about the fire season and regulations, call the Sweet Home Unit at (541) 367-6108.
For information about private forests that have been closed, visit oregon.gov/ODF/Pages/fire/corporate_closure.aspx.