As of 12:01 am, October 13, 2016, the Oregon
Department of Forestry (ODF) has terminated fire season for forestlands
protected by the Northeast Oregon District.
This includes private, state, county, municipal and tribal lands
protected by Oregon Department of Forestry.
The Northeast Oregon District includes lands in the following
counties: Union, Baker, Umatilla,
Wallowa and small portions of Grant, Morrow and Malheur counties. The weather forecast is calling for a turn
towards wetter and cooler fall weather.
Mitch Williams, Wildland Fire Supervisor, La Grande Unit reminds people
to exercise caution “It’s important to remember that a warmer or windy day can
dry fine fuels out quickly. Folks
burning slash or debris piles should remember that conditions can become
unfavorable fairly quick this time of year.
If we have periods of warming
and drying later in the fall, it’s essential for landowners to go out and check
slash piles that were burnt for remaining heat that could cause a problem. It’s
not uncommon for us to be fighting escaped slash fires in late October and
November.”
With the termination of fire season,
requirements for providing fire-fighting equipment at logging sites or
obtaining a burn permit from ODF are no longer in effect. Terminating fire season does not relieve
landowners or forest operators of lawful responsibilities concerning the safe
burning of debris or slash.
Specific
Smoke Management/Burning Advisory Information:
·
If you are under the protection of a rural or city
fire department, please call and ask what their burning restrictions are. Burn permits for burn barrels or small
amounts of yard debris are not required on lands protected by the Oregon
Department of Forestry. In addition,
burning within the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
requires a permit from CTUIR. Follow all
requirements within the permit.
·
Burning slash from forestry and logging activities
requires a Notification of Operation/PDM from ODF. In addition to this permit, the local ODF
office must be contacted prior to ignition.
Before burning in northeast Oregon, it is important to check weather
conditions relative to smoke management.
For smoke management forecasts call (541)963-9781 or visit the following
website:
·
Slash burns must be registered with the
local ODF office at least 7 days prior to burning and burning accomplishments
after 7 days.
The Northeast Oregon District of
the Oregon Department of Forestry would like to thank all of our landowners,
forest operators and the public for their efforts in fire prevention, detection
and suppression activities this season.
In 2016, Northeast Oregon District had 38 fires that burned a total of
871 acres; this is well below the 10-year average of 7,500 +/- acres. 14 of the fires were lightning caused; the
lowest number since 1960 for the Northeast Oregon District.
For further information, call your local ODF
office:
La Grande Unit (541)963-3168
Baker City Sub-Unit (541)523-5831
Wallowa Unit (541)886-2881
Pendleton Unit (541)276-3491
To report a fire, call the Blue Mountain
Interagency Dispatch Center at (541)963-7171, or dial 9-1-1.
http://bluemountainfireinfo.blogspot.com/
is your spot for current fire
information in the Blue Mountains.
######
