Another 300-plus acres set for prescribed burn Wednesday SW of Sunriver, by homes in River Meadows subdivision

(Update: Third day of burning planned)

SUNRIVER, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Firefighters on the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District plan to continue prescribed burn operations for a third day Wednesday in an area three miles southwest of Sunriver, immediately west of the Three Rivers neighborhood and south of Ann’s Butte.

If conditions are favorable, Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District firefighters plan to ignite 302 acres on Wednesday, after 37 acres on Tuesday and 233 acres on Monday.

Firefighters will continue with additional prescribed burn ignitions on Thursday and Friday if conditions remain favorable. The prescribed burn units slated for Wednesday will be directly adjacent to homes in the River Meadows subdivision.

This prescribed burn is part of the Upper Deschutes River Wildland Urban Interface Fuels Reduction Project and Upper Deschutes River Community Wildfire Protection Plan. This is part of a multi-year project to protect the Upper Deschutes River Communities from catastrophic wildfire.

Numerous partners, including the Upper Deschutes River Communities, Project Wildfire, La Pine Rural Fire District, Bureau of Land Management-Prineville District, Deschutes County and Oregon Department of Forestry worked together to reach this stage of community protection.

The prescribed burn unit has been treated through commercial harvesting, thinning, and pile burning.

Prescribed burning reintroduces and maintains fire within a fire-dependent ecosystem helping to stabilize and improve the resiliency of forest conditions while increasing public and firefighter safety. Once firefighters ignite prescribed burns, they monitor and patrol the units until they declare the burn out.

Smoke will be visible from Sunriver, La Pine and the surrounding areas.

Prescribed burns can protect homes from tragic wildfires. Fire management officials work with Oregon Department of Forestry smoke specialists to plan prescribed burns. Prescribed burns are conducted when weather is most likely to move smoke up and away from our communities. Sometimes, weather patterns change, and some smoke will be present during prescribed burns.

What does this mean for you?

During prescribed burns, smoke may settle in low-lying areas overnight.

• All residents are encouraged to close windows at night to avoid smoke impacts
• When driving in smoky areas, drivers should slow down and turn on headlights
• If you have heart or lung disease, asthma, or other chronic conditions, ask your doctor about how to protect yourself from smoke
• Go to centraloregonfire.org to learn more about smoke safety and prescribed burning in Central Oregon

For more information on prescribed burning in Central Oregon, visit centraloregonfire.org/ and for information specific to the Deschutes National Forest visit www.fs.usda.gov/deschutes. Follow us on Twitter @CentralORFire. Text “COFIRE to 888-777 to receive wildfire and prescribed fire text alerts.