Given favorable weather conditions, Deschutes National Forest firefighters on the Sisters Ranger District plan to conduct a prescribed burn on Friday and Saturday, May 4-5.
Firefighters will take two days to ignite the 200 acre SAFR 124 unit approximately 3 ½ miles southwest of Sisters along Forest Road 15. This unit is directly north of the Milli Fire scar and 2 miles south of Crossroads subdivision. Burning in this unit is designed to decrease hazardous fuels accumulations within the Wildland Urban Interface near the city of Sisters and surrounding communities and to reduce the risk of high intensity wildfire.
Due to the location of these units, the public will likely see smoke from Sisters and drivers may experience smoke impacts on Highway 20 and 242 and nearby forest roads. For all prescribed fires, signs will be posted on significant nearby forest roads and state highways that could be impacted.
The public is encouraged to close their windows at night and if smoke is on the roadway, turn on headlights and slow down while traveling through smoky areas. The public’s health is important to the Forest Service. While significant preventive measures are taken, many factors influence a person’s susceptibility to smoke, including severity and duration of smoke exposure and a person’s health. If individuals feel impacted by smoke, they should avoid outdoor physical exertion and remain indoors. If people experience serious health impacts from the smoke, they should contact their doctor. For more information about smoke and health, visit the Oregon Health Authority recommendations through this link:. https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/Preparedness/Prepare/Pages/PrepareForWildfire.aspx#health
Fuels specialists will follow policies outlined in the Oregon Department of Forestry smoke management plan, which governs prescribed fires (including pile burning), and attempts to minimize impacts to visibility and public health.
Keep up with prescribed burns in Central Oregon by visiting this live map: https://www.fs.fed.us/r6/webmaps/deschutes/cofms-rxfire/
For more information, visit the Deschutes website at www.fs.usda.gov/deschutes and follow us on twitter @CentralORFire.
