Jean Nelson Dean, with the Deschutes National Forest, says this year is hard to predict, partly due to the recent rain/sun weather pattern. "Looking at the summer, we have obviously some good things going on, with all the water that we got. However, we are seeing some really tall grasses out there - particularly cheatgrass – taller than people have recalled in a long time." She adds, "We could easily get some fire starts out of that, with that tall grass getting under cars and starting a fire. So, that’s one thing we’re concerned about. We’re also, I think for this fire season, concerned about the huge influx of people that everyone keeps talking about." That influx of people is expected for the August eclipse, during the height of fire season.

 

"For the last two years, we weren’t looking at really good fire seasons, and then we didn’t have anything. So, a lot of it comes down to natural ignitions; what kind of lightning we get," says Nelson Dean. "But, this year with the amount of people that we’re going to be seeing – there’s just people packed in all over the place, already." She’s concerned visitors may not realize the importance of following fire guidelines and restrictions. 

 

Those recreating in the forest are asked to be deliberate about dousing campfires and fully extinguish cigarettes. Never leave a fire unattended; clear the area around your campfire of flammable material. Industrial slash and debris burning is now not allowed on ODF protected lands and industrial operations must meet fire prevention requirements. In 2016, human caused fires accounted for 75% of the fires in the Central Oregon District.