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Sisters, Oregon
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The contents of the on-line edition of The Nugget represent a selection among the stories that appear in the weekly print edition.

Lightning storm gives fire season warning
By Jim Cornelius

Thunder rumbled and the white flare of lightning pierced the skies over Sisters Tuesday night, June 17. It was a spectacular show, but it wracked the nerves of those charged with protecting Sisters from fire.

Lightning slammed into the ground in about 100 places across the Sisters Ranger District, according to Forest Service fire specialist Jinny Pitman. There were 80 strikes on Green Ridge alone. Two strikes ignited fires near the extreme northern tip of Green Ridge.

The fires were each less than 1/4-acre in size and smoke jumpers swiftly attacked and doused them.

The radar technology that allows Pitman to know the exact number of lightning strikes also pinpoints the location of each strike.

"What we can do with that information is strategically place ourselves," Pitman said.

The Sisters Ranger District is currently staffed with three firefighting engines and crews and one five-person hand-crew. Most other Forest Service personnel are trained to fight fire and are available if an incident flares up.

Smoke jumpers are called in to hit remote fires like the ones that flared on Green Ridge, freeing engine crews to respond to other strikes.

"We'd rather not have our engine crews hike in an hour or two to a fire," Pitman said. "We want them more mobile."

The local Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) personnel and equipment are also ready to fight fire.

"We work very close with ODF," Pitman said. "We have a great relationship."

ODF has a couple of key pieces of equipment -- a 200-300 gallon water capacity engine and a big 1,000 gallon engine that can haul a lot of water to a fire in a hurry.

The Sisters country escaped this dry lightning storm essentially unscathed -- a fortunate outcome with fire danger above normal and many local firefighters away in Prineville for training.

That is one area in which tight budgets have made a visible impact, according to Pitman.

"We can't bring our people on early enough to do training in April or May instead of June," Pitman said. "That's a little frustrating."

Lighting storms like last week's not withstanding, June is not the height of fire season.

"I am concerned about July, August and September -- very concerned," Pitman said.

A below-normal snowpack, early melt-off and grass-growing rains in spring have combined to create dangerous fire conditions.

"We have more potential for things to move into the trees if the conditions are right at the time," Pitman said.

Already this summer, in Arizona, the Aspen fire north of Tuscon has shown the voracious destructiveness of a wildfire in a settled area, destroying some 250 homes and forcing firefighters to flee.

Wildfire is an acknowledged risk for folks living on the fringes of the forest. Yet they can take steps to make their home less vulnerable to fire -- and to create a place where firefighters can stand and fight when wildfire looms.

By clearing a 30-foot zone of "defensible space" -- eliminating small trees near the house, clearing out pine needles and underbrush, using flame resistant roofing materials -- homeowners can boost the odds that their home can survive a blaze.

During last summer's Cache Mountain Fire on Black Butte Ranch, fire crews were able to save several homes that appeared to be doomed because there was enough space cleared of fire fuel for firefighters to dig in their heels and make a heroic stand.

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