Use caution despite recent precipitation

 La Grande, OR-The recent precipitation was welcomed by fire managers throughout the region, but they are reminding the public that this was a temporary reprieve. While the moisture will help curb fire activity in the short-term, the forecast of warmer and drier weather will quickly dry fuels back out.

“When we get these fall storms, there is often a sense that the fire danger is all gone. The rains that we experienced were fairly spotty and not all of our area received moisture. As the warmer and drier temperatures return next week, it won’t take long for the lighter fuels to dry out. The heavy fuels won’t see the instant spike in moisture and we could see high fire activity again.” said Logan McCrae, La Grande Unit Forester.

This year to date, 50% of the acres burned on lands protected by the ODF Northeast Oregon District have been human-caused. Human-caused fire starts include debris burning, abandoned campfires and equipment use. Equipment use fires are of particular concern because these starts include fires that were ignited by ATV use and driving vehicles off of improved roads. These types of incidents are preventable, making this upward trend concerning to fire managers.

“We watch the fire danger measurements closely and will lower our restrictions as soon as we know our fire danger has decreased. At this point, we expect that any fire starts we see will be human-caused. These are the fires we can all work to prevent.” McCrae said.

Citizens are asked to continue to use caution and adhere to the Public Use Restrictions, also known as Regulated Use Closure, in effect for lands protected by Oregon Department of Forestry. The public is also reminded that the Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests, as well as the BLM are currently under public use restrictions. Current fire restrictions for forestlands in Northeast Oregon can be found at www.bmidc.org.

http://bluemountainfireinfo.blogspot.com/ is your spot for current fire information in the Blue Mountains.

To report a fire, call Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch at (541)963-7171 or dial 9-1-1.

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