Fire season will begin in the Northwest Oregon Forest Protective Association (NWOFPA) region Wednesday, June 14 at 1 a.m.
In a June 6 email signed by the three Oregon Department of Forestry district foresters for the Forest Grove, Tillamook, and Astoria districts, ODF Astoria District Forester Dan Goody said that the region is well ahead of the usual norms of dryness for the region.
Goody noted that the last 25 days have shown no measurable precipitation locally, and the ten day forecast remains dry as well.
“We are typically not at these fire indices until after the 4th of July holiday,” Goody noted, pointing to data from the National Fire Danger Rating System.
“There have been numerous fires in the NWOFPA over the last two weeks on ODF protection,” Goody said.
On June 14, the Tillamook State Forest and the rest of the NWOFPA will be in Industrial Fire Precaution Level (IFPL) 1.
Goody instructed those in the forestry industry and affected landowners to get their fire equipment on site of their operations as soon as possible to allow time for inspections and to be “fire ready.”
The NWOFPA region includes much of the regions of Gales Creek, Buxton, Timber, Manning, and the Tillamook State Forest, among other areas. It stretches north to the Columbia River, west to the Pacific Ocean, south to Sheridan, and east to parts of Gales Creek, the Killin Wetlands outside of Banks and to Scappoose.
The public and industrial users of local forests can stay informed of current fire restrictions by visiting the agency’s Fire Restrictions & Closures website or calling their local ODF or protective association office, in this case, Forest Grove ODF offices for most of our readers at 503-357-2191.
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Sign up for text alerts for real time fire season information in the Forest Grove, Tillamook, and Astoria ODF districts by texting “NWOA” to 877-274-4067.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
