Firefighters bracing for challenging August

Firefighters as of last week had harnessed a temporary break of cooler weather and no new lightning fires to add miles and miles of new containment lines across large wildfires on national forests in Oregon and Washington. But after just a short 72-hour reprieve, wildfire conditions across much of the Pacific Northwest came roaring back.

“August is showing us nothing but hot, dry, windy conditions and dry lightning all in the first week,” said Ed Hiatt, Pacific Northwest Assistant Fire Director for Operations. “Exhausted crews finally caught a much-needed weather break, but this wildfire year is going to get worse before it gets better.”

There are currently 25 large wildfires burning on national forests spanning from Southern Oregon to the Canadian Border. While some fires received rains from the weather shift, most wildfires east of the Cascades received little to no moisture and are primed to ramp back up.

“We’ve already got hundreds of thousands of acres of active fire out there right now,” added Hiatt.

The fires across the region have led to smoky conditions at times in Sisters, with recent days marking an improvement from poor air quality at the end of July. Periodic smoky conditions are expected to continue.

Be smoke ready this summer by preparing yourself, your loved ones, and your workplace for wildfire-related air-quality impacts with low- and no-cost resources at http://www.airnow.gov/wildfires/be-smoke-ready/.