Forest Service prepares for the fire season

The Forest Service is gearing up for another fire season.

Although careful not to sound alarmist, fire officials are clearly concerned about this year's potential for fire danger in the region.

The Deschutes-Ochoco Forest Supervisor's Office in Bend recently staged a briefing and fire safety training session for news media representatives.

With a 120-acre wildfire near LaPine already in the books for this season, the presentation was designed to provide the media with background information and safety guidelines for covering any future fires.

Rock Gerke is Deputy Interagency Fire Management Officer for the region and works with the Central Oregon Incident Management Team.

He described the condition of Central Oregon forests as being in a "moderate drought cycle," but added that "nothing special is going on right now."

After saying that he didn't want to make any predictions for the fire season, he went ahead and hinted at one, anyway.

"A 120-acre fire for this time of year is pretty unusual for us," he said. "For me, that's a red flag."

Gerke conceded that Central Oregon was relatively lucky during the last fire season. Conditions last year were prime for some serious fires; and, while many other areas suffered costly fires, Central Oregon got off lightly.

According to the Forest Service representatives, fire losses were severe enough last year to prompt Congress to provide extra funding for fire suppression.

The funding package provides for both new equipment and personnel.

Karen Curtiss, Assistant Fire Staff for the Deschutes-Ochoco National Forest, said that approximately 50 new personnel positions have already been filled in Central Oregon, and there are more yet to be filled. Additional resources are coming on line all over the region.

Last week's briefing was part of the Forest Service's effort to help get facts to the public and also to facilitate media access for coverage of any fires that may occur in the future.

The public's need-to-know and interest in breaking news is well understood, but firefighters are also concerned about the safety of people reporting on fires for the media.

As a result, officials hope that by providing fire safety information and training to reporters beforehand, possible delays or restrictions ¤ or worse, accidents ¤ on the scene of a fire will be avoided.

Interagency responses to large fire incidents are coordinated through the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

The center provides assistance in planning, communicating, monitoring and expediting resource allocation from the many public agencies with fire fighting responsibilities.

One of the biggest concerns lies in fires that occur in spots where wild habitat abuts inhabited regions.

In these areas, termed the wildland interface, the risk to people and homes has been rising as the growing rural population spreads out into the countryside.

In fact, the early-season fire in the LaPine area caused the evacuation of a number of homes.

In order to prevent such fires, the Forest Service has been engaged in an aggressive program of controlled burns and fuels reduction to decrease fire danger in these interface areas.

Once forest fuels have been removed, the likelihood of a serious fire igniting in the same area is greatly reduced.

In Central Oregon, information on fires and fire conditions can be obtained by calling the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center at (800) 523-4737.

The emergency number for reporting fires is (800) 314-2560; or call 911.