100 human-caused wildfires since June; lightning in forecast for record dry forests

Since June, there have been 100 human-caused wildfires on national forests and grasslands in Oregon and Washington. While firefighters have been largely successful in putting out these preventable fires, the extremely hot and dry conditions are significantly ramping up fire danger across the region.

“We’re entering a very dangerous time period in the Pacific Northwest wildfire season,” said Ed Hiatt, Pacific Northwest Assistant Fire Director for Operations. “Mother Nature turned on the oven for a week in local forests and now we’re preparing for the potential of dry lightning and gusty winds across much of eastern Oregon."

Local responders are closely tracking these deteriorating conditions where any new wildfire will have the potential to spread rapidly and burn intensely right from the start. And as firefighters are responding to lightning-sparked fires a preventable, human-caused wildfire can limit availability of needed engines, dozer, helicopters, and other resources.

“It’s as dry as I’ve ever seen it,” said Hiatt. “From the Canadian border to southeast Oregon, multiple areas have broken daily records for forecasted fire intensity. Bottom line? If it starts, it’s going to burn hot and it’s going to burn fast.”

Fire managers are anticipating dangerous dry lightning storms to arrive Saturday and last through early Monday morning stretching from Klamath Falls north to Bend and east toward La Grande. To help limit potential human-caused starts, 13 regional national forests are now in campfire restrictions. Please check locally before your visit to many area national forests and grasslands.

For more news & information about National Forests in the Pacific Northwest, visit our news page at https://www.fs.usda.gov/news/r6/news-events.

For the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region home page, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/r6.

For more information about the USDA Forest Service visit https://www.fs.usda.gov.