Unfavorable conditions prompt cancellation of 30-acre prescribed burn Friday SW of Bend near Aspen Day Use Area

(Update: Burn canceled, other training still underway)

Program is new to region, one of three recently underway on the forest

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A 30-acre prescribed burn planned Friday on the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District six miles southwest of Bend near Aspen Day Use Area as part of a national training program has been canceled due to unfavorable conditions, officials said. They noted participants still would be onsite, participating in other training exercises.

The Agency Administrator Workshop, hosted by the National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center (NIPFTC), a multi-agency training center based out of Tallahassee, Florida, offers unique training programs which cover foundational topics for prescribed fire practitioners, fire and fuels managers, and line officers tasked with implementing fuels management programs.

Forest Service Road 700, which provides access into Aspen Day Use Area and Trailhead and the Two-Hour Horse Loop Trail will remain open. Recreationists are asked to use caution and drive slow, as there still will be firefighting equipment and training participants in the area.

The Agency Administrator Workshop, hosted by the National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center (NIPFTC), a multi-agency training center based out of Tallahassee, Florida, offers unique training programs which cover foundational topics for prescribed fire practitioners, fire and fuels managers, and line officers tasked with implementing fuels management programs.

NIPFTC’s Agency Administrator Workshop provides participants an opportunity to network with successful fuels program managers and skilled fire practitioners, while learning about fuels management direction, policy, planning and implementation. NIPFTC’s training programs emphasize mentorship and hands-on experience, which requires building relationships with a variety of host units that manage successful fuels management programs.

This program delivery at the Deschutes National Forest represents the first workshop held in a western venue subsequent to NIPFTC's expansion beyond its original southeastern base.

It's one of three training events under way in recent days on the Deschutes National Forest, including another prescribed burn training program, TREX, and the Central Oregon Wildfire School.

Those are annual events, while the NIPFTC agency administrator workshop is new to the region this year, Public Affairs Specialist Jaimie Olle said, noting that it made for "a busy couple weeks for us."

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, forest officials said. Once firefighters ignite prescribed burns, they monitor and patrol the units until they declare the burn out.

This prescribed burn was planned within the Central Oregon Landscape, one of 21 focal landscapes identified within the Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy. The burns support the Deschutes National Forest’s commitment to addressing the Wildfire Crisis Strategy which aims to reduce severity of wildfires, protect communities, and improve the health and resiliency of fire-dependent forests.

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, turn on headlights and set air conditioning on “re-circulate”
• 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.

For more information regarding the NIPFTC Agency Administrator Workshop, visit Agency Administrator Workshop - NIPFTC.