Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Fire season officially started on June 27, and regulated use is in effect as of July 3.
Regulated use limits certain activities on lands protected by Oregon Department of Forestry, including lower valleys and Cascade foothills.
The U.S. Forest Service usually imposes regulated use later in the higher elevations, ODF South Cascade District Forester Lena Tucker said, but the most important thing this week is that fireworks are prohibited on all ODF-protected lands and Forest Service lands.
Fireworks should be used at home on asphalt and surrounded by green lawns, she said. “It really just takes one spark from a sparkler in dry grass, even if the dry grass is in the front yard.”
Regulated use is a little bit early this year, she said, “but not abnormal when you look at the drying trend.”
The area hadn’t had significant rain for a month, and what ODF was anticipating for the weekend wasn’t going to be much help, she said. High pressure is coming to stay, and temperatures are supposed to be above 90 degrees by the Fourth of July.
“It’s getting into the typical fire season,” Tucker said.
Fire officials are still expecting an average year in Western Oregon, she said, with some above average temperatures and little precipitation in July and August.
The snow pack was OK on the west Cascades, and the area has had adequate rainfall, she said, unlike Eastern Oregon where there was no snow pack and little rain. Eastern Oregon dried up early.
“The biggest factor we can’t control would be lightning storms,” she said. Last year, the area had an abnormal number of lightning storms, six or seven. Usually, it’s only one or two.
The Sweet Home area had around 1,100 acres burn in about 20 significant fires, she said.
This year, forecasters are predicting no significant monsoon season in the Southwest, Tucker said. Normally, the moisture in those tropical storms is dropped in the Southwest before getting to Oregon where all that is left is a relatively dry lightning storm.
If the Southwest has a dry summer, raising fire risks there, it will likely mean less lightning in Oregon, she said.
Still, the fire danger remains from human sources as pastures, hills and tall grasses cure.
People are haying two to three weeks early, she said. The weather has been dry and mild, and fuel moistures are steadily declining.
“Stop and think about the action you’re doing,” she said. “It takes one spark in the right conditions.”
The ODF Sweet Home Unit’s fire crew is all working now, Tucker said. The Sweet Home Unit adds 11 seasonal firefighters, including the Green Peter lookout, and a fire dispatcher.
Regulated Use
– Smoking is prohibited while traveling except in vehicles on improved roads, in boats on the water and at designated locations.
– Open fires are prohibited, including camp fires, charcoal fires, cooking fires and warming fires except at designated locations. Portable cooking stoves using liquefied or bottled fuels are allowed.
– Chainsaw use is prohibited from 1 to 8 p.m. It is permitted at all other hours if the following firefighting equipment is present with each saw: One ax, one shovel and one operational 8-ounce or larger fire extinguisher. In addition, a fire watch is required at least one hour following the use of each saw.
– Chainsaw use is prohibited in areas subject to industrial fire precaution levels III and IV.
– Use of motorized vehicles, including motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, is prohibited except on improved roads.
– All motor vehicles must be equipped with one gallon of water or one operational 2.5-pound or larger fire extinguisher, one ax and one shovel except when traveling on state and county roads. All-terrain vehicles and motorcycles must be equipped with an operational 2.5-pound or larger fire extinguisher except when traveling on state and county roads.
– Use of fireworks is prohibited.
– Cutting, grinding and welding of metal is prohibited between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. Cutting, grinding and welding is permitted at all other hours if conducted in a cleared area.
– Mowing of grass with power-driven equipment is prohibited between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. except for the commercial culture and harvest of agricultural crops. This also does not apply to mowing lawns.
These restrictions remain in effect, usually throughout the summer, until terminated by the forester.