Dry winter puts Oregon on edge for wildfires
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State wildfire officials are asking you not to be the cause of this year's big wildfire. Photo: Maranie Staab/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A warm, dry winter has Oregon officials warning of an intense wildfire season fueled by low snowpack and human-caused fire risks.
The big picture: Very dry vegetation in all its forms could allow fires to spread rapidly across Oregon this summer.
Threat level: "Fuels throughout the state — whether they be forest fuels, shrub vegetation or grasses, even roadside grasses — will be exceptionally dry and receptive to spark," Derek Gasperini, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Forestry, told Axios.
- "It's not boding well for fire season."
State of play: Fire season in Jackson and Josephine counties began Friday, with fireworks and debris burning restrictions now in effect.
- Already, the Pine Mountain Fire outside of Bend scorched more than 2,500 acres last week before firefighters contained the blaze.
- Federal wildfire officials predict the eastern half of the state will be at high risk for wildfires by June, with the rest of the state following by August.
What they're doing: The state has already started positioning crews and equipment in the most at-risk areas, Gasperini said.
- They've also upgraded their multimission aircraft to include a new plane with longer range and more capacity, as well as AI mapping that can help spot fires faster.
Experts have gotten good at predicting fire weather conditions, Gasperini said, "but we can't ever anticipate how and when human behavior is going to spark a wildfire."
- Human-caused fires can start easily from a tossed cigarette butt, a trash fire or even parking a car over dry grass.
Between the lines: More than half the land in Oregon, 32 million acres, is overseen by the federal government.
- Oregon's congressional delegation has expressed concern about the feds' wildfire readiness, noting the U.S. Forest Service has lost about 1,400 employees who are certified to respond to fires since last year, per the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
- The Department of the Interior said they expect to have around 5,700 firefighters for the season, roughly in line with the numbers from last year, a spokesperson told the Capital Chronicle.
- Gasperani said federal and state officials meet regularly to plan for fire season and he feels confident the feds will be ready to respond when needed.
The bottom line: "You can expect that it is likely going to be an earlier fire season and a longer fire season," Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said during a wildfire briefing this month, per KVAL.
- Go here to learn how to protect your home from wildfires.