firefighters

While firefighters continue to try to thwart growing wildfires around the state, the manpower required to do so can leave local stations dry. 

It's wildfire season in Oregon, and a class of new wildland firefighters is ready to help. About 200 students from all over western Oregon trained in Sweet Home last week, studying fire behavior and learning to use tools and equipment. The 22nd annual Mid-Willamette Interagency Fire School culminated with a live exercise off Highway 20.

The Corvallis Fire Department says a staff shortage is affecting its operations.

Northwest wildfires have had widespread effects on travel and air quality. Another unfortunate consequence is a critically low blood supply.

Several compounding factors have squeezed the blood supply. Mobile donation drivers can’t get to some rural sites, and university and high school drives aren’t yet running. There are other reasons, too, says Cynthia Vignos of the Lane Blood Center:

Oregon’s firefighters have training sessions this week in Newport. While incident management scenarios take place every year, first responders anticipate a challenging 2015.

Nearly 100 firefighters are participating in team trainings on the Oregon Coast. Rich Hoover is with the State Fire Marshal’s office. He says they see the increased fire activity of the past couple of years continuing:

Senator Ron Wyden met with leaders of several Oregon fire prevention agencies today (Thursday) in Springfield. He's proposed legislation he hopes will make their jobs easier, as they face another potentially dangerous fire season.

With precipitation in the Willamette Basin currently at ten percent of normal, firefighters say they're doing work now they usually do in June. Senator Wyden is aware of the urgency. He and Idaho Republican Senator Mike Crapo have introduced a bill to classify mega-fires as natural disasters.

Thunderstorms are expected to continue today and tomorrow in the Willamette Valley and Central Oregon. The chance of lightning will keep the red flag warning in effect and fire troops on the lookout for new starts.

More than 40 new fires started in the Willamette National Forest during the recent thunderstorms. Jean Nelson-Dean, with the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center explains how fire crews anticipate these new blazes.

The Oregon Department of Forestry is preparing for another round of lightning strikes this weekend, which could spark additional wildfires. Lightning moved through the southern parts of the state yesterday sparking several blazes.

The Salt Creek Fire is the largest fire sparked, approximately 10-miles west of Shady Cove, along with two other smaller fires in the same vicinity. Oregon Department of Forestry Spokeswoman Jeri Chase says the lightning has been starting in southwest Oregon, then moves into the Cascades, and shifts into either the central or eastern parts of the State.