BEND, OR -- Thanks to cooler, wetter weather, federal public lands in Central Oregon moved to Industrial Fire Precaution Level III Friday morning. "And that just pertains to folks that are wanting to go out there and get their own personal firewood for the winter, and whatnot," says Celeste Prescott, with the Central Oregon Fire Management Service (COFMS), "But those require very precise times and locations that you can go get them." She tells KBND News, "Yes, we're going to let folks go out there and start getting into the forest a little bit more. But we need them to be really cautious."

The fire danger rating also recently reduced from Extreme to High, "Just because they're not extreme anymore does not mean there's not a lot of fire danger and possibility out there." Her tempered optimism is necessary because, she says, wildland fire crews are exhausted. They're spread out all over the state and they welcome the break in the weather, but they also worry about the possibility of more lightning this weekend. "Right now we're seeing a lull," says Prescott, "But I would not be surprised at all if we don't see some of these danger rating levels and what not go back up, if we get into another hot dry period. It's only the middle of August. August is definitely still fire season."

She says Mother Nature has given fire managers and forecasters a few curveballs this season, which is not following historical patterns, "We're going back into a little warmer weather, it looks like, next week, so if we get any lightning over this weekend, with some of these storms that are predicted, we could be chasing new lightning starts once they dry out and a little wind gets on them. So, we definitely don't need any new human-caused starts to add to that." She adds, "Going into this weekend, don't get too complacent. Yeah we got a little rain, the temperatures are a little cooler. But we need them to just stay FireWise about it all."

If you're heading into the forest, Prescott urges you to check restrictions in the area you plan to visit, "We still do have a Stage Two fire restriction in place, so that means that all open fires are prohibited, including wood stoves, charcoal briquette fires, all of those things, including in developed campgrounds."

She says local wildfire crews responded to several small fires in the past couple of days, including a car fire that spread to vegetation east of Redmond, Thursday. ]