The Oregon Department of Forestry announced Tuesday that additional fire restrictions would go into effect for the Central Oregon District, starting on Monday, June 16th. Just hours later, an update: The Central Oregon District is now in HIGH fire danger risk. We spoke with an ODF representative to find out what led to these additional restrictions and increased risk level. Jessica Neujahr told us what they take into account when changing levels.
“We take cues off of multiple factors, and then from that, make the decision to go up another level in the fire danger. (This time), it was a lot on the high temperatures and the current drying trends that we’re seeing,” said Neujahr. Some of the restrictions limit what activities can be done – along with where, and when. These also apply to private land. “We do our best to ride the line of not over0restricting, while also keeping in mind the conditions and making sure that people are safe. These restrictions are a tool to reduce the number of human-caused fires,” said Neujahr.
