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Illinois Valley News
Wednesday, June 8, 2016, 1 Section, Volume 79 No. 12
Fire Season
Begins
75c
Published Weekly Cave Junction, Oregon 97523
Flipping hot day
Hot, dry summer expected
Annette McGee Rasch
IVN Senior Contributing Writer
Fire season began Friday, June 3, on lands
protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry’s
(ODF) Southwest Oregon District. The declaration
shuts down all open burning and affects all state,
private, county, city and Bureau of Land Management
forestlands in Jackson and Josephine counties. This
includes burning of debris piles and the use of burn
barrels.
The public regulated use fire danger level is
currently “moderate” (blue) and the Industrial Fire
Precaution Level is 1 (one).
“Open burning has been the number one cause
of fire the past few weeks,” said Brian Ballou, fire
prevention specialist and ODF public affairs officer.
“Burn piles have been getting away from people and
grasses have been burning pretty aggressively, so we
called the season. The closer we get to summer, the
worse it looks. Unless we get some serious rainfall
events, it looks like we’re going to be pretty active.”
A snowpack in the Cascade Range and the
Siskiyou Mountains recharged most of the southwest
Oregon region’s reservoirs, creeks and rivers, but is
not expected to have much positive effect on wildfire
activity, especially low-elevation grass and brush lands
and mid-elevation forests, according to ODF reports.
While spring was reasonably wet, it was also 6-8
degrees warmer than normal. That warming trend is
likely to continue, Ballou said.
“Below mid-elevation, things are drying out very
fast,” Ballou said. He also explained that abundant grass
and weed growth across the district will provide plenty
of fuel for wildfires once the vegetation fully cures. The
drought in previous years has left numerous dead and
dying trees scattered across the landscape, which may
increase the severity of forest fires in some parts of the
district.
Brian Nieuwenhuis, a meteorologist with the
National Weather Service in Medford, said the El Nino
conditions of last winter are “on the wane,” and that this
summer is expected to be “a little warmer than normal,
and dry.”
“In terms of fuels, there’s a drought ‘carry over’
resulting from fuels drying out really quick this spring,
even though we had a lot of precipitation last winter,”
Nieuwenhuis said.
Ballou said ODF is ready for the season. Last
summer ODF added more personnel to combat wildfires
and a third helicopter to their air attack arsenal.
“But it will be a continuous battle, especially as we
get into July and August,” Ballou said. “It’s all about
how much lightning we get, but also, how smart people
are. That’s always the wild card. Generally, people
who’ve lived here a long time are pretty cautious,
but when we get more people from outside the area
who aren’t really dialed in about how dangerous the
situations can be, we can have trouble. And there’s that
percentage of people who don’t pay attention to our
environmental reality and drive over tall grass or start
burn piles.”
Other restrictions on ODF-protected forestlands
include no fireworks, no tracer ammunition or exploding
targets and no sky lanterns. And under Industrial Fire
Precaution rules, commercial operations such as timber
harvesting conducted on forestlands are now required
to have fire suppression equipment on the job site at all
times, and a watchman must also be provided.
Last year, a total of 255 fires burned on lands
protected by the ODF in the Southwest Oregon District.
Over 200 of those fires were started by people, and 53
by lightning.
To keep track of fire activity in the region visit
www.swofire.com.
(Photo by Laura Mancuso, Illinois Valley News)
A boy cools down by doing a backflip off a rock at Diver’s Hole in Selma on the Illinois River Sunday,
June 5. Temperatures in the area reached record levels this week.
Community groups support CJ Patrols
Judy Hoyle & Dan Klapheke
IVN Contributing Writers
Plans are shaping up for a
special evening July 21. “I.V. by
Candlelight – Lighting our Way to
Safety” will celebrate the Illinois Valley
community’s resilience and bring more
public safety awareness while raising
funds for the all-volunteer CJ Patrols
group.
The event is being organized
by the fourth and final Illinois Valley
cohort of the Ford Family Institute
Leadership Program (FFILP).
Moon Tree Run 2016
Runners take
off on this year’s
Moon Tree Run
at the Illinois
Valley Airport.
Participants
either ran a 5K
or 10K, and the
event featured
music, food and
an appearance
from Smokey the
Bear.
(Photo by Dale Sandberg, IVFD Media Dept)
Cohort members surveyed the
community and the need for public safety
was the most important concern on
everyone’s mind.
“People are worried about crime.
They don’t feel safe,” Fourth cohort
member and Illinois Valley News editor
Laura Mancuso said. “This walk will
help raise public safety awareness. We
want to show that our community is
strong and united.”
“We are inviting the community
to gather at Jubilee Park at 6:30 p.m.
that Thursday for the I.V. Chamber of
Commerce’s Concert in the Park. During
the concert there will be public safety
groups available for information as well
as food from Bobbalou’s Burgers, Dogs
and Sweets. At the end of the concert, we
will be passing out candles and taking
a candlelight walk through the park and
downtown and then meeting back at the
park for some Dutch Bros. and s’mores
by campfire. This event will give the
community an opportunity to address
their fears about safety, especially at
the park. CJ Patrols will be on hand for
questions, safety and hopefully be able to
gather more volunteers.”
SEE FORD ON A-5
Josephine County Fair to host
Battle of the Bands competition
The Josephine County
Fair will host a Battle of the
Bands competition Thursday,
August 18 at 7 p.m. on the
main Seven Feathers Midway
stage.
The fair’s mission is
to bring local talent to the
forefront. Contestants will
be evaluated on vocal and
instrumental performance,
musical interpretation/
originality and stage presence.
Bands will also be evaluated on
audience reaction for the final
performance with the use of a
decibel meter.
The winning band will
receive $600 and a special
guest interview on a radio
station. Second and third place
will receive $300 and $150,
respectively. Bands will also
receive fair passes and have
the opportunity to set up a
merchandise table in the media
tent.
Bands are asked to submit
an audition tape via a demo CD
or YouTube video. A panel of
judges will screen the auditions
and select the finalists.
Applications are available at
the fair office and must be
turned in no later than July 15
at 5 p.m. and selected bands
will be notified by July 18.
The fair office is located
at 1451 Fairgrounds Road in
Grants Pass. The fair has the
right to reject any application
for any reason. Previous
winners are not eligible to
apply. Official rules and
guidelines are outlined on the
application. Visit the Josephine
County Fairgrounds Facebook
page for more information.