Some High Desert fire danger levels lowered
It has been a wet and cool start to fall in Central Oregon, and that is good news for those monitoring fire conditions. As of midnight Thursday, fire danger levels are dropping from extreme to low on federal public lands.
“Our indicators look really good,” Kassidy Kern, public affairs specialist with the Deschutes National Forest, said Thursday. “Our fuel moisture levels are up. Our humidity levels are up, we have shorter days and cooler nights.”
The change in weather conditions means campfires are allowed again and the Industrial Fire Precaution level is dropping from Level 3 to Level 1, meaning you can use chain saws again.
But experts want to remind you to still use caution, because fire season is not over yet.
“We still technically consider ourselves in fire season,” Kern said.
Kern said fire season typically lasts until mid-October, and forest officials continue to monitor the situation closely.
“The last fire of this season, we don’t know if that’s behind us or still ahead,” Kern said.
Despite the cool, wet weather and the USFS lowering fire danger/ restrictions, restrictions also remain in place on Oregon Department of Forestry and state-protected lands. Officials said areas protected by municipal fire agencies also still are in the “high” fire danger category..
Still, experts are hoping the weather change is bringing an end to what has been a busy wildfire season.
“We had a really intense fire year, much more so than the rest of the country,” Kern said.
As we’re slowly transitioning out of this year’s fire season, we’re already looking ahead.
The Deschutes Basin watermaster tells NewsChannel 21 he is hoping desperately for a lot more snowfall this winter. After a couple of dry winters, another dry winter could mean an even worse fire season next year.
Here’s Thursday afternoon’s official announcement:
Due to recent precipitation across Central Oregon, coupled with shorter days and cooler nights, the Prineville District Bureau of Land Management, the Deschutes National Forest and Ochoco National Forest including the Crooked River National Grassland will remove campfire restrictions and lower the Industrial Fire Precaution Level (IFPL) to Level I. Effective 12:01 a.m. September 26, 2014 (Friday) all public use restrictions across Central Oregon will be lifted except in the following areas:
Prineville BLM annual fire restrictions will remain in place on portions of the John Day River until September 30, 2104, and portions of the Lower Deschutes, White and Crooked Rivers until October 15, 2014. For a description of these closures please visit: http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/prineville/fire/alerts.php
The public is reminded to make sure campfires are ‘dead out’ before leaving them unattended.
The IFPL level will be downgraded to Level I, which means that commercial operators and woodcutters are allowed to use chainsaws in the forest at any time in designated areas. All chainsaw operators are reminded that they must have firefighting equipment in their possession while operating in the forest.
