Malheur National Forest prepares for prescribed fire operations
By Mindy Gould on Wednesday, May 18th, 2022 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News Eastern/Southeast Oregon Top Stories
John Day, Prairie City and Hines, Or. – After carefully monitoring conditions across the Forest, fire officials have determined that conditions are within specific parameters, including temperature, relative humidity, and fuel moisture to start prescribed fire operations in specifically planned units.
Emigrant Creek Ranger District fire crews are planning to begin under burning this week on Wolf Unit H. The unit is 712 acres. Ignition will take place on approximately 300 acres starting Tuesday the 17th and holding and monitoring through Thursday the 19th. If conditions permit, operations may continue Friday the 20th through the weekend. The unit is located near the Forest Service Road 17 and 15 junctions. Expect fire personnel to be present, mainly on the 17 road throughout the duration of operations and monitoring.
Prairie City and Blue Mountain Ranger Districts are continuing to monitor conditions to begin spring prescribed fire activity.
For the safety of firefighters and the public, roads and areas of prescribed fire activity will be signed. Please avoid these areas so as not to interfere with ongoing operations. For safety, roads, trails and areas may need to close temporarily as firefighter operations are taking place. Smoky conditions may also reduce visibility to a level that would require additional temporary closures. During prescribed fire operations, there is potential for impacts to camping and hunting. Hunters are advised to plan ahead, for their safety they should not camp in or near an area of prescribed fire activity.
Spring operations reduce surface fuels, increase height of some canopy, reduce small tree densities and help promote fire resilient trees, thereby improving our ability to protect communities from wildfire. Additionally, these prescribed fires improve wildlife habitat, promote long-term ecosystem integrity and sustainability by reducing the risk of high-severity wildland fire.
All prescribed burn activity is weather and condition dependent.
With the potential for smoke to settle in certain areas during active operations, the public can monitor the smoke and air quality in our area and across the state by visiting, http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com/.
Additional information regarding prescribed burning on the Malheur National Forest is available on InciWeb at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov or by viewing the Prescribed Fire Activity interactive map at USFS R6 Tri-Forest Prescribed Fire Map.
For further information on the Malheur National Forest, please visit us at www.fs.usda.gov/malheur or call the Supervisor’s Office at 541-575-3000.
