Report: Fuel treatments helped crews on Ochoco wildfire
A recent briefing paper from the U.S. Forest Service found that previous fuel treatments were very effective in helping firefighters to control the spread of July’s Corner Creek Fire on the Ochoco National Forest and Prineville BLM District.
The report also notes that an influx of invasive plants has created a new source of fuels in areas that have traditionally stopped the spread of fire.
The Corner Creek Fire started by lightning onJune 29about 11 miles south of Dayville, Ore. and grew to nearly 30,000 acres before it was successfully contained.
The paper, which is based on the observations of local firefighters and other fuels experts, reports that fire intensity was significantly reduced in areas that were recently thinned, giving firefighters an opportunity to engage the fire directly and construct lines to contain it.
The paper also states that a combination of thinning followed by prescribed fire treatment was even more effective at reducing fire intensity because the hand piles of hazardous fuels were gone, allowing the fire to burn naturally through the understory grass and litter.
“Places that were treated had better fire effects, mostly low intensity and just burning grass and dead stuff below the timber,” said Type 3 Incident Commander and Division Supervisor Jeff Priest. “They also helped our holding efforts while untreated areas caused us more control problems.”
The report includes observations that a recent influx of the invasive plant Ventenata (a.k.a. North Africa grass) has colonized previously barren “scab” lands on the drier east side of the Ochocos, creating a new source of fuels to carry fire in areas that traditionally stopped the spread of fire.
