Sean C. Morgan
Steady rainfall two weeks ago provided some brief relief from wildfires, but fuel moisture levels soon disappeared, and the Oregon Department of Forestry South Cascade District, including the Sweet Home Unit, has moved to Industrial Fire Precaution Level II as of July 30.
That was just in time for a lightning storm that caused fires across the state but left the Sweet Home area unscathed.
“The weather event (of July 23) provided some moisture and the moisture was a welcome relief,” said South Cascade District Forester Greg Wagenblast last week. “Unfortunately, the effects are disappearing and fuel moistures are dropping again.”
The “energy release component” fire danger rating was at high as a lightning storm rolled through the Willamette Valley Thursday night and Friday morning.
“That storm came through, and looking at our lightning detection system, we got anywhere between 30 and 40 strikes,” said Sweet Home Unit Forest Protection Supervisor Chad Calderwood. That was just inside the boundaries of the Linn Forest Protective Association District boundaries.
“The valley got hit pretty good,” Calderwood said.
National Weather Service Meteorological Technician Gerald Macke said the Willamette Valley had more than 1,000 lightning strikes, from Eugene to Portland.
The detection system tells firefighters where to look for potential fires and sleeper fires, which can smolder for several days before popping up.
As of Monday, there were no known fires in lands protected by the Sweet Home Unit or on the Sweet Home Ranger District.
Meanwhile, forests around the area have been fighting new fires.
The lightning storm was the result of low pressure aloft coming onto shore above a layer of warm, moist air, Macke said. That started a convection cycle, with warm air rising, cooling, forming water droplets, forming ice and causing lightning.
He said it’s an unusual weather development for this time of year, and it resulted in higher low temperatures, four to five degrees, overnight across the valley.
From the Sweet Home area, the ODF Sweet Home Unit has two personnel on fires outside the district.
Lebanon firefighters stopped a brush fire threatening Peterson Butte on July 29 following a report of a structure fire at 35930 Polly Farm Lane. which sits at the base of the butte.
Upon arrival crews found a fire approximately one-third acre in size in a field that had spread to a motor home, camp trailer and utility trailer. The fire was moving uphill towards brush and timber. Incident command called for a second alarm which brought mutual aid from Albany Fire, Brownsville Fire, Tangent Fire, and Oregon Department of Forestry.
Crews were able to control the fire just before it reached the brush. The camp trailer and motor home were total losses and the utility trailer received minor damage. A total of 24 firefighters were on scene and there were no injuries.
Cause of the fire was determined to be a campfire from the previous evening. The occupant told investigators that he had used three buckets of water to extinguish the fire and thought it was out. It was determined that there were smoldering embers, that when the temperature rose, humidity dropped, and the breeze picked up, were able to ignite surrounding vegetation.
Outside of the Sweet Home area, the Willamette National Forest was fighting at least a dozen lightning fires on the Middle Fork Ranger District. Three of the 12 fires were several acres each.
“Just as you’d expect, the afternoon heat picked up and we are seeing smoke columns come off the largest of the fires out there” said Middle Fork Fire Management Officer Randy Green on July 31 as the lightning storm continued on the Cascade crest. “We are staffing them, using water drops from helicopters and plan to work aggressively to keep them as small as we can. We have more resources on the way.”
The largest of the fires were located in or near the Staley Creek watershed approximately 25 miles southeast of Oakridge.
As of Monday, the 116-acre fire was not contained. Some 215 fire personnel were fighting the fire.
The Willamette National Forest also had one new fire reported on the McKenzie River Ranger District and one on the Detroit Ranger District.
The ODF reported that lightning continues to move through parts of Oregon, igniting fires in those areas on private and public lands. Firefighting agencies are busy doing initial attack on fires that have been identified and continuing to watch for possible fire starts in the Sweet Home area and across the state.
As of Monday, the 5-Mile Fire burned in the Wallowa Unit, Northeast Oregon District, 20 miles northeast of Enterprise, burning approximately 1,800 acres in steep terrain, grass and timber on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and about 100 acres on ODF-protected private lands. The fire threatens structures in Imnaha and the Idaho Power transmission line.
In the John Day Unit, Central Oregon District, the South Fork Complex was burning approximately 20,000 acres 20 miles south of John Day.
Also in the John Day Unit is the Haystack Complex, with 1,814 acres in seven fires in the area of Spray, Dayville and Monument. The complex was 95 percent contained, with all fires expected to reach mop-up stage by 6 p.m. on Monday.
The Beaver Complex in the Southwest Oregon District includes two lightning-started fires, the Salt Creek Fire 20 miles northwest of Medford and the Oregon Gulch Fire 15 miles east of Ashland near the Soda Mountain Wilderness.
The Salt Creek Fire is 155 acres and was 80 percent contained on Monday, while the Oregon Gulch Fire is 36,568 acres, with 9,464 acres in California, and 20 percent contained, also on Monday.