Spring burning will continue through next week
By Logan Bagett on Thursday, June 3rd, 2021 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
JOHN DAY, PRAIRIE CITY & HINES, OR – (Release from the Malheur National Forest)
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 – No burning over the past weekend. The district will assess an additional 200 acres in Silvies 7 to burn this upcoming weekend, June 5-7, once the temperature and relative humidity moderates.
• Prairie City Ranger District – Completed burning 140 acres out on Elk 16 QA, Buttermilk Creek area over the past weekend. All three Districts and the Airbase provided resources to assist. The district will consider burning Elk 16 FB (1000 ac) later next week, starting June 10-11.
• Blue Mountain Ranger District—The district will begin ignitions in Galena unit 30 off the Middle Fork of the John Day River today and will continue with aerial ignitions utilizing a helicopter if conditions are conducive for Thursday- Sunday. The unit is 714 acres.
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/incident/7426/ 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.
