Since Monday, the Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) Southern and Eastern Oregon Area firefighters have responded to over 100 new fire starts, both lightning and human-caused, and anticipate more to come during the holiday weekend. Through the agency’s aggressive initial attack tactics, most of the fires have been contained to an average of about half an acre.
In the Southern Oregon Area (all ODF-protected land from around Eugene down to the California border west of the Cascades), ODF firefighters and resources have responded to 10 lightning-caused fires and 43 human-caused fires since Monday.
In the Eastern Oregon Area (all ODF-protected land east of the Cascades), ODF firefighters and resources from the Klamath-Lake, Central Oregon, and Northeast Oregon Districts have responded to over 65 new fire starts, most of which were caused by lightning. Alongside the lightning, firefighters in this area have faced the added difficulty of dry and windy conditions, making the fires more difficult to catch and suppress.
On top of their initial attack efforts, the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Central Oregon District responded to and supported the extended attack operations for the Grizzly Flat fire (624 acres) and the Larch Creek Fire (92 acres). Both fire’s forward progression has been stopped. In addition, the Klamath-Lake District went into extended attack and suppressed the Bowers Bridge Fire (40 acres).
Fire managers anticipate these numbers will double over the weekend due to human activities like fireworks, which are prohibited in state forests and on ODF-protected land.
With the recent lightning in both areas, it’s important for Oregonians to help prevent wildfire by checking local restrictions before bringing fire hazards onto the landscape and actively practicing wildfire prevention while they recreate.
We can’t prevent lightning-caused fires, but by preventing human-caused fires we can help reduce the strain on Oregon’s firefighters and other resources.