Five prescribed burns planned in C.O.

Forest Service fuels specialists plan to conduct two prescribed fires Thursday on the Deschutes National Forest and three on the Ochoco National Forest, officials said.

One prescribed fire will be located within the Lava Cast Forest, seven miles east of Sunriver.

To ensure safe and successful implementation, the Hoffman Island Trail and FS Road 9720 will be closed between FS Road 800 and FS Road 9710 during operations.

Additionally, specialists will continue operations that were initiated Wednesday by burning in the Metolius Basin Research Natural Area near Camp Sherman.

On the Ochoco National Forest, specialists will continue with the two operations that were initiated Wednesday: 1) 15 miles northeast of Prineville near Wildcat Campground; and 2) 12 miles northeast of Post, and 6 miles south of Big Summit Prairie. Additionally, specialists will initiate a multi-day prescribed fire 15 miles south of Mitchell, and 2 miles east of Big Summit Prairie.

Fuels specialists will follow policies outlined in the Oregon Department of Forestry smoke management plan, which governs prescribed fires, and attempts to minimize impacts to visibility and public health. Once ignited, units are monitored and patrolled until they are declared out.

For more information, visit the Ochoco/Deschutes website at www.fs.usda.gov/centraloregon and follow us on twitter @CentralORFire. Subsequent news releases and “tweets” will follow to provide updates on these potential operations.