Fire season officially begins in Oregon

So far this season we’ve been lucky with wildfires here at home, with 24 reported wildfires and no evacuations.

Here in Southern Oregon we’ve been especially fortunate, for example, with wildfires caused by lightning put out by rain and hail.

The response teams have also shown more communication, which of course leads to more effective response.

Nevertheless, we have to be watchful. And this was addressed by our government and the ODF which rolled out the official fire season across Oregon area by area, for example, Central Oregon the first week of June, and Jackson and Josephine counties June 1st.

By now Oregonians are used to treating the unpredictable fires so that every day is a possible fire day. But the official declaration not only brings a good alert but does have restrictions including no outside fire burning (such as burning debris or trash barrels outside your home) and when you can work with tools outside—this being lawnmowers or anything that can cause a spark. No fireworks, no shooting especially with tracers and also cigarette smoking in improperly safe vehicles like cars and trucks.

These are common sense approaches and should not be restrictive: for example you can merely save your mowing for allowable hours. Plus it gives you a good excuse to wait another day…and gives us procrastinators a great excuse 😉.

But it is also a great reason to be prepared for the inevitable fires. You can have fire kits ready. You can organize a safe way out of town… as we have seen, the highways can be completely useless in an emergency situation. You can set aside valuables you couldn’t bear to part with, such as your grandmother’s diary or a hand knit scarf all the way up to family photos or your own wedding pictures or…at CRT we like to go high..your own diamond ring, unless you’re wearing it :)

You can also expand outside your home by alerting your neighbors, forming a fire watch group, and encouraging that they follow these basic rules .

It’s a great signal to all prepare for the next inevitable fire, and at CRT we heartily endorse these principles. Let’s get through this together, and education can be critical. Be safe this season!