Prescribed burn of about 200 acres planned Wednesday five miles east of Sunriver, Highway 97

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- On Wednesday firefighters on the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District plan to conduct prescribed burn operations about 10 miles south of Bend and five miles east of Sunriver. If conditions are favorable, firefighters will ignite up to 201 acres east of Highway 97 near the Exit 153 interchange and directly north of Forest Service Road 9720.

Ignitions on the Rocket Prescribed Burn are planned for 10 a.m. Smoke will be highly visible from Highway 97, Bend, La Pine and Sunriver. Sunriver and south Bend may experience some smoke impacts. Road and trail closures are not anticipated although the public is asked to use caution and slow down where fire traffic and firefighters are present along Forest Service Roads 9720 and 9721.

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 patrol the units until they declare the burn out.

This prescribed burn is occurring within the Central Oregon Landscape, one of 21 focal landscapes identified within the Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy. The implementation of this prescribed burn supports 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. While prescribed fire managers take significant preventive measures, it’s likely that communities may experience some smoke during or immediately after a prescribed burn. 

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 turn air to recirculating
• 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 X/Twitter @CentralORFire. Text “COFIRE” to 888-777 to receive wildfire and prescribed fire text alerts.