Williams, Ariz., July 12, 2018—For Immediate Release. Fire managers on the Williams Ranger District will take advantage of the recent widespread rain that has delivered adequate moisture to the area and will burn two small areas of slash piles on Friday of this week.

A 20 acre unit of hand piles approximately 8 miles south of Williams near county road 73 and forest road 139, and a single pile at the green waste disposal site located at the old dump site off forest road 900 north of Pittman Valley are scheduled for ignition on Friday morning.

This operation is projected to be complete in one day and is not expected to have any long term smoke impacts to roadways or developed areas. Smoke may be visible near both locations throughout the day however will be short in duration. No overnight impacts are expected.

Visitors are always reminded to use caution when traveling in the vicinity of prescribed fires, as firefighters, fire-related traffic and smoke may all be present.

All prescribed fires are subject to approval by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. For additional information on the Smoke Management Division and to view prescribed burn authorizations for any given day, visit www.azdeq.gov/SmokeManagemet

Notifications of upcoming prescribed fires are provided regularly throughout the year. This information can be found at the following sources:

• Fire Information Recorded Hotline: 928-635-8311

• Twitter: www.twitter.com/KaibabNF

• Kaibab Facebook: www.facebook.com/KaibabNF

• Kaibab website “Recent News”: www.fs.usda.gov/kaibab

• Kaibab South Zone Rx Fire: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5922/

PENDLETON, Ore. - Fire management officials on the Umatilla National Forest are preparing to implement the Forest’s fall prescribed burn plan, which could impact camping and hunting opportunities in several hunting units across the Forest.  Any associated road and trail closures will go into effect prior to and during burn operations, which typically take 2-5 days to complete. Hunters are advised to plan ahead and avoid camping in the designated prescribed burn areas during the 2021 hunting season.

Frequent, low-intensity fire is essential for healthy forests and reducing the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire caused by excessive fuel buildup. Prescribed burning is an effective tool for removing excessive amounts of brush, shrubs, and trees, while also encouraging the growth of native vegetation.

Prescribed burning is also highly dependent on weather conditions, which must be within a narrow criteria window in order to use prescribed fire. Factors such as wind speed and direction, temperatures, relative humidity, and fuel moistures are all taken into consideration prior to implementing a prescribed burn operation.  With the current rains and moderate temperatures across the Forest, many areas are conducive to successful prescribed fire implementation in the near term.

“From a restoration objective standpoint, late summer and fall provide the best opportunities for the timing of prescribed fires,” said Andrew Stinchfield, Deputy Fire Staff Officer.  “Fire behavior during fall weather conditions is more likely to align with how the native vegetation has adapted to fire.”

The Forest Service recognizes that hunting season coincides with prescribed burning season and can impact hunters, but controlled burns are necessary to reintroduce fire to the landscape and encourage healthy vegetation that will ultimately improve landscapes and forage for big game.

Hunters should be cautious when entering a recently burned area and be aware of increased hazards, particularly snags. Dead or dying trees that remain standing after a fire are unstable, especially in high winds. 

Each prescribed burn represents many years of planning and preparation to ensure burn operations meet prescriptive conditions that allow for successful burns that provide multiple benefits to resources. The forest works closely with the Oregon Department of Forestry and Washington Department of Natural Resources in accordance with the State’s Smoke Management Plans to determine when, where, and how much is burned on a daily basis.  Potential smoke impacts, looking at volume of smoke, direction of spread, and mixing heights, are determined prior to each burn.  All burns will be monitored until a season ending rain or snow occurs. 

The Umatilla National Forest has developed a prescribed fire interactive map displaying planned burning activities. The interactive map allows the user to zoom in on certain areas and click on a burn unit for more information (such as acreage, status, etc). When burning operations begin the interactive map will be updated to display which burn units are actively burning. Maps of the proposed prescribed burns are also located on InciWeb at http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5808/.

Additional information on prescribed burning is available on the Umatilla National Forest website at www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla/, on the Forest Facebook page at www.facebook.com/UmatillaNF, or at any forest office. 

For more information about the Umatilla National Forest’s Prescribed Burn program, please contact one of the following Forest Service personnel:

• Tara Mackleit, Pomeroy Ranger District - (509) 843-4676

• Joby Sciarrino, Walla Walla Ranger District - (509) 522-6283

• Kevin Bomberger, North Fork John Day Ranger District - (541) 427-5399

• Kristen Marshall, Heppner Ranger District - (541) 676-2130

Additional information about the Umatilla National Forest is available at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla.

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Crews continue to mop up the burned area today and tomorrow. Mopping up includes searching for pockets of heat, digging out the heat source, and cooling with water. Personnel plan to patrol the burned area through the weekend.

Crews on the Pomeroy Ranger District completed ignitions on the Little George Prescribed Fire yesterday.  Smoke may still be seen in the area as firefighters mop-up and cool the perimeter of the burn.  No further ignitions are planned for the day. #GoodFire
 

Fire management officials on the Pomeroy Ranger District are implementing a 22-acre prescribed burn within the Little George project area, located approximately 31 miles south of Asotin, Washington. 

The Little George prescribed burn is anticipated to take 1 day to complete and primarily consists of slash from recent timber sale activities. The objective of the burn is to reduce wildfire risk through reductions in existing fuel loading. Forest visitors are encouraged to plan ahead and avoid the area during prescribed burning activities.

Additional information about this prescribed burn is available by visiting the Umatilla National Forest’s prescribed fire interactive map. This map displays burning activities and is available at https://usfs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=ea40c8491fea4805b328ac74cd41429e. The interactive map allows the user to zoom in on certain areas and click on a burn unit for more information (such as acreage, status, etc). When burning operations begin the interactive map will be updated to display which burn units are actively burning.

Maps of the proposed prescribed burns are also located on InciWeb at http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5808/.


 

Learn about the benefits of prescribed burning and follow our progress online this spring on our interactive map

JOHN DAY, PENDLETON and BAKER CITY, Ore. (April 7, 2021) – Fire management officials on the Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests are preparing to implement spring prescribed burning activities. Prescribed fire is an important way to maintain and improve forest conditions with “good fire” as we reduce the risk of severe wildfire in the future.

Prescribed fire information for the Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests is available to the public on our tri-forest online map. The map is labeled and color-coded to show each burn unit’s status: planned, active, or completed. For convenience, forest users can display current and past-year burn units along with National Forest boundaries and State wildlife management boundaries.

Fire history studies have shown that fire has long been a dominant natural process in the Blue Mountains — maintaining open, park-like conditions in low- to mid-elevation forests of ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and larch. Prescribed fire has a wide variety of benefits, including reducing dead and down fuels, thinning understory trees, stimulating natural fire-tolerant plants, enhancing forage, reducing the risk of stand- replacement fires, and creating strategic fuel breaks near urban-interface areas. Forest Service prescribed fire programs allows fire to play its natural role on the landscape under controlled conditions.

Fire managers have been working with County, State, and Regional partners to limit smoke in our communities. This is accomplished by coordinating with smoke forecasters at the Oregon Department of Forestry, so burning occurs under conditions that limit smoke entering local communities. Some smoke is likely to be visible from burn units, although prescribed fire managers minimize smoke in communities by selecting smaller burn units near communities, reducing the amount of smoke produced in a single day. Completing burning early in the afternoon also limits smoke settling overnight. Further, burn units are planned to alternate over time to reduce the likelihood of repeated smoke in a single area.

Please note that where and when burning occurs, and how many acres are treated within a prescribed fire unit, will vary due to weather, fuel conditions, smoke dispersion, and other variables. All areas may not be within prescription this spring, and implementation will likely not occur on every acre as planned. Additionally, some project areas may have acres within prescription that are not detailed in the prescribed fire map.

To learn more about current and planned prescribed fires in the area, please visit:

• Online prescribed fire map for the Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests
• Blue Mountain Prescribed Fire Council Blog
• Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch Center
• John Day Interagency Dispatch Center and Burns Interagency Communication Center

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PENDLETON, Ore. - Fire management officials on the Umatilla National Forest are preparing to implement the forest’s fall prescribed burn plan, which could impact camping and hunting opportunities in several hunting units across the forest.  Any associated road and trail closures will go into effect prior to and during burn operations, which typically take 2-5 days to complete. Hunters are advised to plan ahead and avoid camping in the designated prescribed burn areas during the 2020 hunting season.

Frequent, low-intensity fire is essential for healthy forests and reducing the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire caused by excessive fuel buildup. Prescribed burning is an effective tool for removing excessive amounts of brush, shrubs, and trees, while also encouraging the growth of native vegetation.

Prescribed burning is also highly dependent on weather conditions, which have to be within a narrow criteria window in order to use prescribed fire. Factors such as wind speed and direction, temperatures, relative humidity, and fuel moistures are all taken into consideration prior to implementing a prescribed burn operation. With the current rains and moderate temperatures across the Forest, many areas are conducive to successful prescribed fire implementation in the near term.

“From a restoration objective standpoint, late summer and fall provide the best opportunities for the timing of prescribed fires,” said Andrew Stinchfield, Deputy Fire Staff Officer.  “Fire behavior during fall weather conditions are more likely to align with how the native vegetation has adapted to fire.”

The Forest Service recognizes that hunting season coincides with prescribed burning season and can impact hunters, but controlled burns are necessary to reintroduce fire to the landscape and encourage healthy vegetation that will ultimately improve landscapes and forage for big game.

Hunters should be cautious when entering a recently burned area and be aware of increased hazards, particularly snags. Dead or dying trees that remain standing after a fire are unstable, especially in high winds. 

“Don’t camp or linger in a burned area.  And, as always, let someone know your planned route, destination and expected return time,” said Stinchfield.

Each prescribed burn represents many years of planning and preparation to ensure burn operations meet prescriptive conditions that allow for successful burns that provide multiple benefits to resources. The forest works closely with the Oregon Department of Forestry and Washington Department of Natural Resources in accordance with the State’s Smoke Management Plans to determine when, where, and how much is burned on a daily basis.  Potential smoke impacts, looking at volume of smoke, direction of spread, and mixing heights, are determined prior to each burn.  Additionally, Forest personnel have increased coordination measures with the states regarding COVID-19 mitigation, which will be important considerations prior to implementing any burn operations.  The public can monitor smoke and air quality by visiting http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com/ or https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/.

The Umatilla National Forest has developed a prescribed fire interactive map displaying planned burning activities, which is available at https://tinyurl.com/y8we6ntg.  The interactive map allows the user to zoom in on certain areas and click on a burn unit for more information (such as acreage, status, etc). When burning operations begin the interactive map will be updated to display which burn units are actively burning. Maps of the proposed prescribed burns are also located on InciWeb at http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5808/. Additional information on prescribed burning is available on the Umatilla National Forest website at www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla/, on the Forest Facebook page at www.facebook.com/UmatillaNF, or at any forest office. 

For more information about the Umatilla National Forest’s Prescribed Burn program, please contact one of the following Forest Service personnel:

• Tara Mackleit, Pomeroy Ranger - (509) 843-4676

• Joby Sciarrino, Walla Walla Ranger District - (509) 522-6283

• Tommy Mentzer, North Fork John Day Ranger District - (541) 427-5385

• Kristen Marshall, Heppner Ranger District - (541) 676-2130

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Fire management officials on the Pomeroy Ranger District are planning to implement a prescribed burn on Triple Ridge (4302-040 road) today.

The prescribed burn activities will consist of activity slash burning in four timber sale units from the North Park Timber Sale.  The objective of the burn is to reduce activity fuel loading and associated fire hazard.

Additional information about this prescribed burn is available by visiting the Umatilla National Forest’s prescribed fire interactive map. This map displays burning activities and is available at https://tinyurl.com/y8b433th. The interactive map allows the user to zoom in on certain areas and click on a burn unit for more information (such as acreage, status, etc). When burning operations begin the interactive map will be updated to display which burn units are actively burning.

Maps of the proposed prescribed burns are also located on InciWeb at http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5808/. 

Fire management officials on the Heppner Ranger District are implementing a prescribed natural fuel burn today, which is one of two units planned this week.

The Sun Bacon prescribed burn activities are anticipated to take 2-5 days per unit to complete and include 425 acres of grass, brush, and timber located approximately 20 miles south of Heppner and seven miles east of the Morrow County OHV park. The objective of the burns are to improve foraging habitat for big game, reduce long-term wildfire risk through reductions in existing fuel loading, and to restore the ecological functions of a fire adapted ecosystem to the area.

Additional information about this prescribed burn is available by visiting the Umatilla National Forest’s prescribed fire interactive map. This map displays burning activities and is available at https://tinyurl.com/y8b433th. The interactive map allows the user to zoom in on certain areas and click on a burn unit for more information (such as acreage, status, etc). When burning operations begin the interactive map will be updated to display which burn units are actively burning.

Maps of the proposed prescribed burns are also located on InciWeb at http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5808/.