Sean C. Morgan
Fire season this year may be hot, but for now, local forests are in better shape than even earlier this year.
?We started coming into the season with a rainfall deficit,? Oregon Department of Forestry Sweet Home Unit Forester Kevin Crowell said last week during the annual multi-agency fire school. ?We?re in better shape than we were in March and April.?
With the later rainfall, Crowell said, things are about normal for this point in the fire season.
Firefighters have already responded to fires this year, including an abandoned campsite on the river.
At this point, fires will spread in the forests, and people need to be thinking about fire, Crowell said. Regulated use is already in effect on the Quartzville corridor, which means campers must use the metal fire rings provided and have shovels and buckets for water available to put out fires.
Regulated use on the rest of the local district will go into effect soon, Crowell said. When that happens, fires will be limited to designated campgrounds only. Smoking will be limited to the inside of vehicles. Off-road vehicles will need to stick to roads.
?We?re planning for our average fire season,? Crowell said. ?We also plan for worst-case scenarios.?
Things are looking good now, but that can chance quickly in a couple of months, Crowell said. As the air dries out, fuels begin drying out as well, increasing the chance for forest fires.
?If we have continual dry spells, if we have low moisture in the air, that?s when fires take off quickly,? Crowell said. Oregon Department of Forestry hits fires hard when they are small to make sure they don?t get big.
Last year, ODF had an active fire season, with a number of smaller fires locally, Crowell said. The largest fire in the district was the Overton Gap Fire in the Brownsville area, which burned some 38 acres.
The season was not worse because ?I think we do a good job of fire prevention,? Crowell said. Also, the public has been wise with the use of fire, and fire crews have had good initial attacks on fires.
?We need to make sure that people have the ability to go recreate, but we need to be wise, Crowell said. ?We need to use it wisely dealing with fire.?
Fire officials ask that people be aware of the rules, read the signs and follow the regulations that are in place.
?I think it?s going to be a serious summer,? Milt Moran of Cascade Timber Consulting said. ?The potential is there.?
While rain recently dampened the fire danger, recent dry weather, low humidity and high temperatures is drying the fuel out, Moran said. Friday, the fires set for firefighter training were igniting quickly and easily.
?The dead fuels are cured now,? Moran said. ?It?s not going to take long for the green fuels to cure.?
It still is too early to tell whether this year?s fire season will be hot, Moran said. The rain has been close to normal.
He is concerned ?more than anything else with people being irresponsible with fire.?
Moran talked about a couple other recent fires, including some related to logging equipment and a power line hitting a tree.
?Everything has been attacked quickly and knocked down,? Moran said.
This season follows on the heals of last year?s B Complex fire, which came within two or three miles of CTC-managed forestland. A chance in the weather helped keep it off CTC-managed land when winds shifted.
CTC had 14 employees in Level Two training last week, Moran said. In that training, they will learn to serve as ?single resource leaders,? which means leading an engine and crew, a 20-man firefighter crew or other type of crew.
About 60 firefighters were in Level Two training. The fire school had about 140 new firefighters training at the first level.
?It?s a great opportunity for our guys to get some experience, take some orders from someone besides Ben and I,? Moran said.
?They get a lot of information in four days,? Crowell said of the trainees. They will get a chance to digest the information, then training will continue at their postings.
During training school, firefighters attended courses in basic fire behavior, map and compass use, air operations and safety and survival. On Friday, they received hands-on training in the use of engines, portable pumps, hose lays and hand tools to combat real fires set on CTC land off Sunnyside Road.
During the week, the trainees spend their time at a ?fire camp? set up at Foster Elementary School in Sweet Home to get a taste of what it will be like in a real wildfire situation.
Participating in the event were the ODF, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Oregon State Lands Division and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Crowell wanted to specifically thank CTC, DNS Construction and School District 55 for their help in providing the training camp.