Although crews have made progress containing some of the wildfires burning on the Willamette National Forest, officials say increased fire activity is possible.
More than 1,500 personnel are fighting 10 fires around Oakridge and Blue River, including the Ore Fire.
Spokesperson Mike Smaldino told KLCC the number of firefighters hasn’t decreased, and hotter and drier weather is predicted. “Really the biggest things that we watch out for, obviously, on days like that, [is] if the wind picks up at all, it could be our spot fires that might happen," he said, adding, "Some of these areas, just because it’s so steep in the terrain that we’re at, the spot fires really have a tendency to carry a little bit and to actually start burning.”
Smaldino said his Rocky Mountain-based team is transitioning out, and a California team is taking over. He said local crews did an amazing job when the hundreds of lightning strike fires first started July 17, and other groups continue to rotate in so that no one is overworked.
There’s a community meeting on the Ore Fire and the Willamette Complex of fires Thursday at 6 p.m. at Thurston High School. It will also stream live on Facebook.
