Fire danger decreases slightly across the region due to recent weather pattern- prompting ODF fire managers to decrease restrictions from extreme to high.

La Grande, Ore.- We are lowering our restrictions from extreme to high fire danger, effective 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, August 27, 2024. Weather conditions have moderated, but our forest fuels remain critically dry. Our fire managers would like to remind everyone that lands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry-Northeast Oregon District are still under Public Use Restrictions, and during this time we will not be issuing permits for open burning, debris piles, or burn barrels.

Changes include:

• Open fires, including campfires, charcoal, cooking, and warming fires, are still prohibited except at designated locations.  Portable cooking stoves using liquified or bottled fuel are allowed.  For information on designated campgrounds, please call your local ODF office.
• Non-industrial chainsaw use is prohibited between the hours of 12:00 p.m. and 8 p.m.  Chainsaw use is allowed at all other hours if there is one axe, one shovel, and one 8-ounce or larger fire extinguisher for each operating saw.  A one-hour fire watch is also required. 
• Cutting, grinding, and welding of metal are prohibited between 12:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. These activities are permitted at all other hours if conducted in a cleared area and if a water supply is present.
• Mowing dried and cured grass with power-driven equipment is prohibited between 12:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., except for the commercial cultivation and harvest of agricultural crops 

Matt Howard, District Forester, cautions, “While the recent change in the temperature and the showers that were received were welcome, it’s still August, fuel conditions are still dry, and everyone should still use abundant caution when they head out to the woods.”

For more information on fire prevention restrictions in the Northeast Oregon District call: (541)975-3027.

Fire restrictions may differ on lands protected by rural fire departments or lands managed by the US Forest Service or BLM.  More information on fire restrictions can be found on the Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch Center website at www.bmidc.org.

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

Fire season information is also available online at our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/oregondeptofforestryNEO/, or for the Blue Mountains at: http://bluemountainfireinfo.blogspot.com/.

##