With widespread rain and cooler temperatures across the state, all Oregon Department of Forestry districts ended the fire season Saturday, Oct. 29.
The start and end of fire season are set by each fire protection district based on area conditions.
The end removes restrictions on ODF-protected lands intended to prevent wildfire, such as on backyard debris burning and use of certain equipment. Many structural fire departments in Oregon, however, still require a permit for debris burning, so check with local fire departments before starting a burn.
This year has seen 844 fires on ODF-protected lands, which resulted in 34,105 acres burned and 96 percent of fires put out at 10 acres or less. The department deployed incident management teams (IMTs) to three fires: the Rum Creek fire in Southwest Oregon District, the Van Meter fire in Klamath-Lake District and the Nakia Creek Fire in Washington.
Statewide to date, regardless of jurisdiction, some 1,975 fires have burned 436,772 acres.
“We were fortunate this year to have adequate resources to respond to fires in our jurisdiction while also being able to send resources to our partner agencies to help in their firefighting efforts,” said ODF Fire Protection Division Deputy Chief Ron Graham. “We share in the success of the 2022 fire season with Oregon’s complete and coordinated fire protection system, including forest and range landowners, local fire districts, tribes, contractors, federal, state and county partners.”
Sweet Home Unit Forester Craig Pettinger said he didn’t have final numbers available yet, but Linn County fared “pretty good.”
“It was a good year for us,” he said. “We didn’t have hardly any acres burn, to speak of. Probably the most important thing was that people were really quick to report fires and people followed fire restrictions.”
According to state ODF officials, the successes of the 2022 fire season are in part due to the early detection systems that the department has in place and from Oregonians’ continued commitment to wildfire prevention.
The department saw a significant decrease in human-caused fires this year with 1,918 acres burned on ODF-protected lands, compared to the 10-year average of 68,479 acres burned from human-caused fires.
As Oregon transitions out of fire season, ODF districts across the state are shifting their attention to wildfire prevention efforts. Clearing vegetation, creating defensible space around homes, and safely burning debris piles are just a few ways ODF is working with local landowners, members of the public and fellow fire response agencies to mitigate wildfire risk.
For more wildfire safety tips, visit ODF’s Fire Prevention webpage at https://bit.ly/3fghBoh.