Kelly Kenoyer
Of The New Era
The fire danger level in the Sweet Home area rose “high” on Tuesday, July 28, which means campfires in the area are officially forbidden, along with restrictions on other activities.
The Oregon Department of Forestry South Cascade District decides the fire danger level based on a formula.
“We use information from three different weather stations that report to us hourly,” Unit Forester Craig Pettinger said. “It’s kind of a science-based deal.”
The formula determines how dry are fuels like grass and brush, based on rainfall in the area, and also calculates how much solar radiation is hitting the area.
“It’s essentially all weather driven, and when we start having these 90 degree days, it starts drying stuff out. If it’s not irrigated, it’s definitely starting to dry out,” Pettinger said.
Mowing dry grass is restricted to the hours before 10 a.m. and after 8 p.m.
Vehicles and other spark-emitting combustion engines are restricted from unimproved roads that may have flammable vege-tation during those same times. Power saw use is restricted to the same time frame, and requires a one-hour fire watch and for users to have a shovel and fire extinguisher on hand in case of fire.
“The biggest one is that no campfires are allowed once we’re at a high fire danger level,” Pettinger said. “Limiting that activity really saves us a lot.”
Campfires are still allowed at designated Linn County and Bureau of Land Management campgrounds that have a camp host.
Around this time of year, roadside grass fires start to become more common, Pettinger said. Those kinds of fires can be caused by a hot exhaust pipe touching some fuel.
“If it comes in contact with dry grass, it’ll actually light up,” he said. “Just be aware, and if you see something just report it.”
A fire on Tuesday, July 28, along Highway 34, east of I-5 may have started from just such an incident, Pettinger said.
“Because of where it started, it was probably either from a malfunctioning car, some hot embers, or someone may have pulled over there.”
He said some cars will spew extremely hot metal bits out the tailpipe if they’re malfunctioning, which has been known to cause fires. The Highway 34 fire was put out in a few minutes and only reached 500 square feet in size.