Southwest Oregon Fire Danger Rises to High as Equipment Restrictions Begin Tomorrow

The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) warned that the Southwest Oregon District will be raised to “high” (yellow), with the Industrial Fire Precaution Level (IFPL) raised to Level 2 (two) tomorrow at 12:01 a.m.

Southwest Oregon Fire Danger & IFPL Levels Raised

Persistent hot temperatures and vegetation that continues to dry across Southwest Oregon have caused rising fire danger.

Precaution levels have been raised after ODF Southwest responded to several fires, the largest of which was the Spencer Gulch Fire, located roughly 4 miles south of Ruch.

While firefighters stopped the forward spread at approximately 75 acres, crews remained to secure and mop up the fire fully.

The increased fire danger level and IFPL affect 1.8 million acres of state, private, county, and BLM lands in Jackson and Josephine counties.

The main difference is now that the public use of power‑driven equipment- such as chainsaws, mowers, weed eaters, and more- grinding, cutting of metal, and other spark‑emitting equipment, such as wood splitters and generators, is prohibited from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, although this does not apply to mowing green lawns.

No debris burning (including burn barrels), fireworks on or within 1/8th of a mile of ODF-protected land or on BLM land, and exploding targets and tracer ammunition, or any bullet with a pyrotechnic charge, are banned.

Campfires are allowed only in designated campgrounds. Motorized vehicles (including motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles) are only allowed on improved roads; one shovel and one gallon of water, or one fire extinguisher 2.5 pounds or larger, are required while traveling.

For more information about ODF fire season restrictions, contact the Southwest Oregon District unit office nearest to you or visit the ODF Southwest website.