More often then not we need to point the finger at ourselves and blame our fellow human beings for the wildfires that burn during northwest Oregon's summers. If you have lived around here for any significant amount of time, you have likely already heard the stories of the "Tillamook Burn", and how on August 14, 1933 a logging company outside of Gales Creek wanted to haul one last log out before the Forestry Department closed the woods for the day due to high fire danger. As that final log was yarded up to the landing it rubbed either a steel cable, or another tree, and the friction that ensued sparked one of Oregon's largest wildfires right in the very Coast Range Mountains we watch the sun set over every night. Our modern experience with wildfires in this area has not been as dramatic as that 311,000 acre first Tillamook Burn fire, but our causes are consistent in that humans are still at fault for a majority of our wildfires; as we grow and more people make the woods their backyard, we can only expect that the number of human caused wildfires will grow too. So what can we do to prevent our own behavior from creating a wildfire tragedy this summer?
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| The aftermath of the Tillamook Burn can be seen in this Wikipedia photo |
Burn piles
The elephant in the room so to speak for our area is when we use fire outdoors. Oregon's backyard burn season ends June 15th and doesn't start again until October, so all backyard debris fires are closed during summer months. Beyond that once the weather hits the point where we expect it to stay dry, the County will almost always ban agricultural burning as well. It's that grey area of the year, like we've had with this dry spring, when burning is still technically allowed that it gets dangerous. That's why it's so important to always have a fire break of bare dirt around your burn piles, and to attend them with firefighting tools and water at all times. When you are done burning, you must make sure that your burn pile is out. This can be easily done by soaking the burned area and stirring it to create a cold and wet mud that won't allow a fire to continue to burn. Some burn piles can ignite underground roots, so it's essential that you soak your burning area when you are through with your debris fires.
Power tools and equipment
Next to burn piles, one of the other significant causes for our wildfire problem is the things we use outside. It's very important that you check your power equipment like tractors, lawn care tools, motorcycles and ATV's, and others to make sure they are in good working order before using them outdoors during fire season. Be it a motorcycle without a spark arrestor, or a farm tractor with a worn out bearing, not having a properly maintained powered tool or toy is just as risky during fire season as not using this equipment properly.
Open flames and fireworks
During fire season 2011, a resident using a cutting torch to work on a car near a grass field nearly destroyed an entire rural neighborhood when sparks ignited the tall and dry grass nearby. Fire crews stopped the fire literally feet away from one home, and prevented it from spreading to a brushy stand of timber nearby. Each year fireworks, kids with matches, and cigarettes dropped by motorists are also to blame for unnecessary fires in our area. Now is the time for parents to lock up those matches and lighters before the kids get out of school for the summer, and make sure that when you purchase your fireworks you only choose those that are legal in Oregon and you keep all fireworks out of the hands of unsupervised children. If you must use the welder or torch outdoors the same rules that apply to your burn pile apply here too, have water handy and regularly watch the area for hours afterwards to make sure that the smallest ember has not ignited the brush around your work area.
So, even though it's raining today, as fire season approaches remember what our old friend Smokey Bear says in this classic 1964 public service announcement: "Only you, can prevent forest fires!"
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