Douglas County’s Forest Protective Association raised the county’s fire danger level to “moderate” on Monday.
While this change is not uncommon during the summer season, Douglas county residents are urged to observe the new level’s accompanying rules.
Kyle Reed, Fire Prevention Officer for the Protective Association, says the moderate fire danger level changes the time certain activities are prohibited from 1 to 8 PM. These activities include cutting dried or cured grass, grinding or welding metal, and using power saws for non-industrial purposes.
“There’s been a couple of years in the past where we’ve been extreme at this point,” says Reed. “We’re seeing those mild conditions slowly start to turn away, and we’re really expecting things to pick up in terms of fire danger here in the coming weeks with the forecast we’re seeing.”
Reed says that more illegal burning has been reported this year than in years past, likely as a result of people being stuck at home and the perceived cooler weather in the last few months. Debris piles, he says, are especially dangerous and can hold a flame and smolder for weeks or even months undetected.
Copyright KLCC, 2020.