Two members of Oregon’s congressional delegation were in Springfield Thursday for a briefing on the area’s upcoming wildfire season.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Val Hoyle, both Democrats, were briefed by state and federal forestry officials about conditions and what this year’s low snowpack means in the months ahead.
Hoyle said she was told that the forecast for fire season is severe.
“It’s going to start earlier. It’s going to go later,” she said. “There is more to burn than we would like to see.”
Wyden said the U.S. Forest Service has about 1,400 fewer firefighters than it did last year, and Congress needs to increase its funding for wildfire issues.
“I’m saying it’s my job, our job, and we’re going to have a real challenge with resources given the season," he said.
On its website, USFS said it had 11,364 firefighters last year and is at “more than 10,000 professional firefighters" this year.
Hoyle said, when it comes to wildfire issues, the divide in Congress is less partisan and more about states that have high wildfire danger and states that do not.
Lane County Commissioner Heather Buch was also present at the briefing. She said that local fire response is ready and has been spent time preparing outside of fire season.
“We always want to work throughout the year,” she said. “Not just during fire season but throughout the year with our partners to ensure that we’ve done our scenario planning. We update our fire protocols and do practice runs.”
Among those who briefed the elected officials was Dave Larson, Southern Oregon Area Director for the Oregon Department of Forestry.
He said ODF is fully staffed with firefighters, but one chief worry is how expensive firefighting can be, particularly since many states have high fire potential this summer.
Larson said the state’s largest firefighting helicopters can cost more than $25,000 per hour to operate, and retardant drops from planes can cost as much as $50,000 per drop.
“My concern is, going into the fire season, if a lot of states are coming online, the higher elevations are going to be available for fires sooner and burn longer. And so that might tie up some resources,” he said. “It’s going to be key, in my mind, to come down with an aggressive and overwhelming initial attack at that first call of fire.”
Dennis Lee, the emergency response unit manager with the Oregon State Fire Marshal, said it’s important for people to prepare their homes for fire season now.
“What do the gutters look like? What’s going on with the eaves? Do we have flammable material in places right next to the house?” he said. “And we really want people to focus on that first five feet between the house and any vegetation.”
He said, in large part, homes and other structures that burn in a wildfire catch fire when embers fall on spots with dried plant matter that can easily catch fire.
