LOCAL SPOTLIGHT
Fire Season Started June 1, 2022 in Jackson and Josephine Counties This Declaration Affects 1.8 Million Acres of Oregon Department of Forestry
Southwest Oregon DistrictProtected Lands JACKSON & JOSEPHINE COUNTIES, OR. | June 2022 | Press Release Fire Season on lands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) Southwest Oregon District begins Wednesday, June 1, 2022 at 12:01 a.m. The fire danger level will be “Low” (green) and the Industrial Fire
Precaution Level (IFPL) will be I (one). Lands affected by this declaration include 1.8 million acres of state, private, county, city and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forestlands in Jackson and Josephine counties. Following a warm and dry start to the year, April and May brought more typical spring-like patterns and precipitation to southern Oregon and helped in decreasing the amount of fire starts. Year to date, our firefighters have responded to 25 fires for a total of 22 acres burned; these statistics tell a much different story than last year, when during the same timeframe, we had responded to 89 fire starts totaling 120 acres. While temperatures and conditions haven’t yet become consistently warm and sunny, fuels are primed to burn, and years of drought have contributed to an increased fire risk. For these reasons, fire season is being declared at this time. Beginning Wednesday, the burning of debris piles and the use of burn barrels for burning debris will no longer be allowed in Jackson and Josephine counties. Even with recent rains, landowners are encouraged to check their previously burned piles from this spring and confirm that they have been extinguished. In low fire danger, the following activities are prohibited: • No debris burning, including piles and debris burned in burn barrels. • No fireworks on or within 1/8 of a mile of forestland. • Exploding targets and tracer ammunition, or any bullet with a pyrotechnic charge in its base, are prohibited. • Campfires are allowed in designated campgrounds, and on private land with the landowner’s permission. Portable stoves using liquefied or bottled fuels may be used as well.
• Smoking while traveling will only be allowed in enclosed vehicles on improved roads, in boats on the water and other specifically designated locations. • Any electric fence controllers must be approved by a nationally recognized testing laboratory, such as Underwriters Laboratories Inc., or be certified by the Department of Consumer and Business Services and be installed and used in compliance with the fence controller’s instructions for fire safe operation. Under IFPL I (one) – fire season requirements are in effect. In addition to the following: • A Firewatch is required at this and all higher levels unless otherwise waived. For more information about the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Fire Season regulations, please call or visit the Southwest Oregon District unit office nearest to you: Medford Unit, 5286 Table Rock Rd., Central Point – (541) 664-3328 Grants Pass Unit, 5375 Monument Dr., Grants Pass – (541) 474-3152 Additional information about fire season is also available online on our website, www.swofire.com, our Facebook page, @ODFSouthwest and our Twitter account, @swofire. n
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July 2022 | The Business Review
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