The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

By Jim Cornelius

Temperatures may have dropped and there may be that crisp tang of autumn in the air, but fire season in the Sisters country is not over yet.

"Not yet; not until we get

some moisture," said Chief Don Mouser of the Sisters Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District.

"It doesn't look like from the weather report that we're going to get any moisture coming through."

Until the snow flies in November, sisters area residents have to be aware of fire danger. With the advent of cold and frosty nights, many people are starting to fire up their wood stoves. If flues and roofs haven't been cleaned, that can be a dangerous thing to do. "Now is the time to get (flues and chimneys) cleaned up. It won't take much to get a flue fire going," Mouser said.

Residents should get up on the roof and clear away pine needles and debris that may have accumulated during the summer and then keep the roof clean, Mouser advised.

Otherwise, "next thing you know, we're out there and they don't even know they have a fire because it's all on top of them," he said.