Shevlin Park burns again, to head off wildfires
As we head toward winter, Deschutes National Forest rangers are still working to protect our forests from wildfires — at times, by setting them ablaze.
A 78-acre prescribed fire as set Tuesday at Shevlin Park, and a public tour was held to let community members learn more about prescribed fires.
In an effort to maintain forest health and to reduce chances of future fires, Bend Parks and Recreation is using prescribed fires as a part of its vegetation management plan for Shevlin Park. Previous prescribed fires the park took place in 2017, totaling 150 acres.
The Forest Service said this year’s prescribed fires were set in two areas. A 56-acre unit is in a newly expanded portion of Shevlin Park that was a former tree farm. In addition, 22 acres in the Fremont Meadow area on the other side of Tumalo Creek will be burned.
The prescribed burn improves community safety for those living in the area and improves wildland conditions for firefighters, officials said.
” During fire season, sometimes it’s triple digits and really dry, and that is honestly when we get bad fire effects, ” said Alison Green, coordinator for the Central Oregon Cohesive Strategy. ” We get really high intensities. We get things that aren’t really great for the system, the ecosystem.
” This is kind of that ‘good fire’ we are putting back in the ecosystem, when it traditionally would have burned, before we had a lot of human interaction. ”
Tour participants were given gear and safety clothing and hard hats to wear.
Fire officials used a drip torch to lay strips of fire throughout the control lines in segments. Burns are usually conducted in either a dot or line formation, and both formations were used during Tuesday’s burn.
” When you do it in segments, it keeps the fire intensity low, so we’re not killing the trees or scorching the trees, ” said Travis Moyer, prevention tech and training officer for Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District. ” So if you torch out a tree, it can throw sparks over the line and could cause a spot fire, so if you do it in small strips there is less fire intensity. ”
The prescribed fire was completed Tuesday. Once it is safe to reopen the park, signage will be removed and areas will be available for recreation.
You are encouraged to keep your windows and doors closed to reduce impact from the smoke.
KTVZ 2019
