Several Prescribed Burns Scheduled This Weekend

Ignitions planned south and west of Bend and outside Sisters

BEND– If weather conditions remain favorable, the Deschutes National Forest has several prescribed burns planned for the weekend.

Beginning on Saturday, burning will take place in the Metolius Basin outside Sisters, and south of Bend, one mile west of Horse Butte. On Sunday, fuels specialists will be igniting a 130 acre burn west of Bend near the new Cascade Lakes Welcome Station on Cascade Lakes Highway and a small burn outside of Sisters.

The first burn of the weekend will take place on Saturday, south of Bend. This 240 acre burn unit is near a prescribed fire that was completed on Thursday. Both burns are intended to treat hazardous fuels around the community and lessen the impacts of large scale wildfire events.

Also on Saturday is the 212 acre burn outside Sisters, two miles west of Camp Sherman. This burn is designed to decrease hazardous fuels accumulations within the Wildland Urban Interface adjacent to Camp Sherman and surrounding communities by reintroducing fire back into the ponderosa pine ecosystem.  

Burning in the West Bend Project area will likely begin late Sunday morning. Approximately one and a half miles of the COD trail from junction 20 to 21 will be closed during burning operations and will open again when forest officials feel the area is safe.  If there are periods of heavy smoke, flaggers will be in place on Cascade Lakes Highway to safely guide traffic to the other side of the fire area. The winds forecasted for the burn area are expected to push smoke up and over Bend, which will limit impacts to the community. However smoke will be highly visible from the Bend and the surrounding areas.

The final burn of the weekend will be ignited Sunday, mid-morning if conditions remain favorable, approximately six miles west of Sisters near Highway 242. As with other burns near communities, the purpose of this burn is to decrease hazardous fuel accumulations and reintroduce fire back into the ponderosa pine ecosystem.

Fuels specialists will follow policies outlined in the Oregon Department of Forestry smoke management plan, which governs prescribed fires (including pile burning), and attempts to minimize impacts to visibility and public health.

Keep up with prescribed burns in Central Oregon by visiting this live map: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/webmaps/deschutes/cofms-rxfire/

Two Burns Scheduled This Week South of Bend

Two Burns Scheduled This Week South of Bend

Burning near La Pine is scheduled for Tuesday

Public Lands South Bend planned for Ignitions on Thursday and Friday

BEND– Given favorable weather conditions, Deschutes National Forest fuel specialists on the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District plan to conduct two prescribed burns south of Bend this week.

On Tuesday, fuels specialists plan to ignite 211 acres approximately 20 miles south of Bend. The prescribed fire area is located east of Highway 97 between Forest Road 9725 and 9735. While there are no road closures anticipated with this burn, smoke could impact Highway 97 and motorists are encouraged to drive slowly and use caution on adjacent Forest Roads.

Beginning Thursday, ignitions are planned on two units south of Bend, one mile west of Horse Butte. Winds are forecasted that will facilitate smoke dispersal and minimize impacts to the community. If favorable winds materialize, fire managers could burn up to 337 acres in two days of burning.

Burning in both of these areas is designed to decrease hazardous fuels accumulations within the Wildland Urban Interface adjacent to the city of Bend and surrounding communities to reduce the risk of high intensity wildfire.    

Due to the location of these units, the public could see smoke and drivers may experience smoke impacts on nearby highways and Forest roads. For all prescribed fires, signs will be posted on significant nearby Forest roads and state highways that could be impacted.  No road closures are anticipated with these projects. Residences and businesses in the area are advised to keep their windows and doors closed during the night hours to avoid any potential smoke impacts. 

Fuels specialists will follow policies outlined in the Oregon Department of Forestry smoke management plan, which governs prescribed fires (including pile burning), and attempts to minimize impacts to visibility and public health.

Keep up with prescribed burns in Central Oregon by visiting this live map: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/webmaps/deschutes/cofms-rxfire/

For more information, visit the Deschutes website at www.fs.usda.gov/deschutes and follow us on twitter @CentralORFire.  

Prescribed Burn Planned Near Sisters TOMORROW (April 19)

SISTERS – Given favorable weather conditions, Deschutes National Forest fuel specialists on the Sisters Ranger District plan to conduct a prescribed burn tomorrow, April 19.

The prescribed fire area is 2 ½ miles north of Sisters, adjacent to the Sage Meadow and near the Sage Woods communities.  The 154 acre unit is also ½ mile south and west of the Indian Ford community, ¾ of a mile NW of Crooked Horseshoe community.

Burning in this 154 acre unit is designed to decrease hazardous fuels accumulations within the Wildland Urban Interface adjacent to the city of Sisters and surrounding communities to reduce the risk of high intensity wildfire.    

Due to the location of these units, the public could see smoke and drivers may experience smoke impacts on nearby highways and Forest roads. For all prescribed fires, signs will be posted on significant nearby Forest roads and state highways that could be impacted.  No road closures are anticipated with these projects. Residences and businesses in the area are advised to keep their windows and doors closed during the night hours to avoid any potential smoke impacts. 

Fuels specialists will follow policies outlined in the Oregon Department of Forestry smoke management plan, which governs prescribed fires (including pile burning), and attempts to minimize impacts to visibility and public health.

Keep up with prescribed burns in Central Oregon by visiting this live map:http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/webmaps/deschutes/cofms-rxfire/

For more information, visit the Deschutes website at www.fs.usda.gov/deschutesand follow us on twitter @CentralORFire. 

Two prescribed burns planned for Ochoco NF

PRINEVILLE, Ore.— With the arrival of moisture and light snow in the Ochoco Mountains last night, fire managers plan to finish burning the Canyon 193 unit tomorrow, located along Forest Road 22 west of Big Summit Prairie.

Firefighters began work on the Canyon 193 unit earlier in the week by burning about 46 acres of containment lines around the unit and along Forest Road 22, which is a critical transportation route identified in the Crook County Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

Beginning tomorrow around 10:30 am, and subject to weather conditions, they will finish burning the remaining 150 acres within the unit. The goals for this prescribed burn are both to remove hazardous fuels to reduce fire danger along the travel corridor and to reintroduce fire into a fire-evolved ponderosa pine ecosystem.

Light smoke will be visible along Forest Road 22 and in the immediate area during ignitions, but no other impacts to visitors are expected.

Starting next Monday, April 17, firefighters plan to begin work on the Willow Pine burn units, which total 800 acres located 18 miles northeast of Paulina and about 2 miles south of Frazier Campground within the Paulina Ranger District. Ignitions are planned to begin around 11:00 am Monday morning and continue for 2 or 3 days as necessary to complete the project and dependent on weather conditions.

Light smoke will be visible from the Post-Paulina Highway and along Forest Road 58 and adjacent forest roads during ignitions. Smoke will also be visible for 2 or 3 days following active ignitions.

The burning of these units will provide better connectivity of sage grouse habitat, improve critical winter range for big game and simultaneously reduce hazardous fuel loading to lower the risk of large-scale wildfire across the landscape.

All prescribed burning is dependent on weather and planned in accordance with smoke management standards administered by the State of Oregon.

If you want to receive email notifications prior to prescribed burns on the Ochoco National Forest and Crooked River National Grassland, send a request to Assistant Fire Management Officer Sam Pearcy at spearcy@fs.fed.us

Visit our website for a virtual map of all current and planned prescribed burn units: http://go.usa.gov/c6CXR

For media inquiries, contact Patrick Lair at plair@fs.fed.us or (541) 416-6647  

Two Ochoco prescribed burns planned tomorrow

Fire managers on the Ochoco National Forest plan to take advantage of predicted moisture in the Ochoco and Maury Mountains to ignite two prescribed burns tomorrow.

The Forest has completed about 400 acres of prescribed fire in the Wiley Flat area of the Maury Mountains over the last 10 days, but ceased burning as the temperature rose and conditions dried. With another pulse of moisture predicted, the Forest hopes to finish its juniper jackpot burning in the Maurys and complete an underburn along Forest Road 22 just north of Big Summit Prairie.

The East Maurys jackpot unit is 80 acres located just east of Forest Road 16 in the Wiley Flat area. This burn would ignite dead and down juniper trees with the goal of removing hazardous fuels to prevent unwanted high-intensity wildfire, and to improve forage conditions for livestock and wildlife.

The Canyon unit is 196 acres located along Forest Road 22 near Big Summit Ranger Station. The goal for this prescribed burn is to remove hazardous fuels along Forest Road 22, which is a critical transportation route identified in the Crook County Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

Both burns are scheduled to begin at 10:30 am with ignitions continuing for 2 or 3 days as necessary.

Smoke will be very visible from both Forest Road 16 in the Maury Mountains and Forest Road 22 near Big Summit Prairie. Signs will be posted along travel corridors, but no other impacts to drivers are expected. 

All prescribed burning is dependent on weather and planned in accordance with smoke management standards administered by the State of Oregon.

If you want to receive email notifications prior to prescribed burns on the Ochoco National Forest and Crooked River National Grassland, send a request to Assistant Fire Management Officer Sam Pearcy at spearcy@fs.fed.us

Visit our website for a virtual map of all current and planned prescribed burn units: http://go.usa.gov/c6CXR

Ochoco jackpot burning to continue in Maurys tomorrow

PRINEVILLE, Ore.—Fire managers on the Ochoco National Forest have enjoyed two successful days of jackpot burning in the Upper Beaver units near Rager Ranger Station, and plan to continue burning juniper jackpots tomorrow in the Maury Mountains.

The burning goal for tomorrow in the eastern Maury Mountains is to undertake 200 acres of juniper jackpots in the Wiley Flat area, about 4 miles northeast of Antelope Flat Reservoir. If successful, fire managers plan to complete another 200 acres in the Maury Mountains on Sunday.

This will be in addition to completing the 800-acre treatment currently underway in the Upper Beaver units, about 15 miles northeast of Paulina, near Rager Ranger Station on the Paulina Ranger District.

Jackpot burning addresses high concentrations of thinning-related or naturally-occurring downed woody debris. It is not a broadcast burn or an underburn.

The goals for tomorrow’s jackpot burning are to reduce hazardous fuels to prevent future high-intensity fire, while improving critical winter range for big game and creating better connectivity of sage grouse habitat.

Light smoke will be visible from both burns during ignition periods and may linger for several days, but no other impacts to forest visitors are expected.

All prescribed burning is dependent on weather and planned in accordance with smoke management standards administered by the State of Oregon.

If you want to receive email notifications prior to prescribed burns on the Ochoco National Forest and Crooked River National Grassland, send a request to Assistant Fire Management Officer Sam Pearcy at spearcy@fs.fed.us

Visit our website for a virtual map of all current and planned prescribed burn units: http://go.usa.gov/c6CXR

For media inquiries, contact Patrick Lair at plair@fs.fed.us or (541) 416-6647