LOCAL
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
A7
Spring fi re season fl ares up in Eastern Oregon
ODF, local fi re
departments
urge care when
burning fence
lines, ditches
and debris
MORE
INFORMATION
By ELLEN MORRIS
BISHOP
For the Wallowa County
Chieftain
WALLOWA — The
words “spring” and “fi re
season” might seem like
oxymorons. But this year,
dry grass, unpredictable
winds and people unpre-
pared for these conditions
have sparked a larger-than-
usual number of calls for
fi re department assistance
for blazes surging out of
control.
“It’s grass-burning sea-
son,” Oregon Department
of Forestry Wallowa Unit
forester Matt Howard said.
“People are doing the right
thing, burning ditch lines
and fi elds and what they usu-
ally do to clean up around
their property. But this year,
too many of those fi res have
gotten out of control.”
The problems, How-
ard said, are mostly that
... the folks who are burn-
ing get too much fi re going,
they don’t have enough per-
sonnel on hand, they’re not
watching the weather, the
wind comes up or shifts, the
fi re gets into some heavier
fuel and it’s off to the races.”
For example, on Wednes-
day, April 7, brisk winds
drove a fi re intended to
burn a small pile of old
hay through the surround-
ing dry grass and ignited a
century-old wood granary
at a farm on Liberty Road.
The granary was reduced
to ashes and charcoal, but
Enterprise, Joseph and ODF
fi refi ghters controlled the
blaze before it could jump to
the adjacent vintage barn or
the farmhouse.
“It could have been a
whole lot worse,” said Chief
Oregon Department of Forestry/Contributed Photo
The 17-acre Middle Point Ridge fi re may have started because a warming campfi re fi re set by recreationists or shed hunters was
not fully extinguished and was fanned back into activity by wind gusts. Oregon Department of Forestry and U.S. Forest Service
crews responded and extinguished it.
Jeff ery Wecks of the Joseph
Volunteer Fire Department.
“We’ve had 10 fi re runs
since April 1,” Howard
said, and credited partner
fi refi ghting organizations,
including the Wallowa, Los-
tine, Enterprise and Joseph
fi re departments and USFS
fi refi ghters for their critical
roles in battling those blazes.
But what really raised
Howard’s concerns were the
fi ve fi re calls to ODF and
the other fi re departments on
one day — Friday, April 9.
“We are just having too
many of these fi res,” he said.
The fi res are often the
result of negligence on the
part of the burners, Howard
noted.
The old grass is tinder
dry. And spring green-up
hasn’t really started yet,
Howard said.
“When the new, green
grass really gets to growing,
it will cut down on the fi re
danger,” he said. “But right
now, I dread getting a call
from Imnaha or Troy, where
there’s lots of old, really dry
grass that is very fl ammable
fi ne fuel. We could have a
real problem there.”
On Friday a 17-acre wild-
fi re about 19 miles north of
Wallowa torched grass and
understory on Middle Point
Ridge, Howard said. It
burned on Hancock ground
and land of the Bureau of
Land Management, and may
have been started as a warm-
ing fi re by a recreational
group looking for shed ant-
lers, Howard said.
“Whoever started it just
didn’t get it completely put
out,” he said. “It was on an
exposed
westerly-aspect
slope that caught sun and
had dry grasses. When the
wind picked up, like it did
last week, we had a fi re that
started in the fi ne fuels.”
Dry conditions at low
elevations around the state
already have seen signifi cant
fi res near Klamath Falls and
Sisters, Howard said. Those
events were mostly driven
by wind in dry, fi ne fuels.
“Once we declare fi re
season in June or early July,
ODF is not going to allow
debris burning or even burn
barrels,” Howard said. “I
would encourage folks to
do the right thing, be care-
ful and burn debris if they
need to or should. But there
are a few things, includ-
ing weather, wind and the
resources to control the fi re
they need to be mindful of.”
He emphasized that he’s
no newcomer to fi re season
in the county.
“I’ve been here for 21
years, and David Weaver
has been here for 30 years,
and to both of us, this is an
abnormal amount of (spring)
fi res in a short amount of
time,” he said. “We’ve had
some nice weather, but also
cool mornings, so the grass
hasn’t responded. And until
we get some good green-up
that will inhibit the spread
of these fi res, we’re going
to continue to have out-of-
control fi res if people aren’t
careful.”
Oregon Department
of Forestry recom-
mendations for debris
burning:
1) Check the weather.
The best source is the
Pendleton U.S. Weath-
er service site which
provides not only a
weather forecast, but
an hourly forecast that
includes winds and
wind gusts and their
directions for any lo-
cation chosen on their
map. (www.weather.
gov/pdt/) Or call the
ODF offi ce for info on
burning conditions at
541-886 2881
2) Anticipate chang-
es in weather. When
fronts move through,
they bring increased
winds. Don’t burn
grass or debris if a
change in the weather
is imminent.
3) Don’t be too ambi-
tion about how much
you are going to burn
at one time. Be sure
you have adequate
people, tools and
water to keep your
burn under control.
“It doesn’t take much
wind to push a fi re
that moves faster than
most people can run,”
Howard said.
4) Do your burning is
several smaller proj-
ects rather than one
large one.
5) Don’t leave your de-
bris burn unattended.
Make sure any burn is
completely out before
leaving.
6) Consider waiting
another week or two
to burn, when gree-
nup will reduce the
likelihood of a fi ne-fu-
el fi re getting out of
control and weather
systems may be more
stable.
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