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http://www.omniture.com --> Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend May 6, 2006 Fire suppression agencies use preventive medicine By Paul Fattig Mail Tribune Fire season may still be a spark on the distant horizon but agencies responsible for fighting wildland fires are already making plans. The Oregon Department of Forestry will post an air tanker at the Medford airport tanker base as well as another one at the tanker base near Redmond when fire danger heats up, said Brian Ballou, fire prevention specialist for the ODF's Southwest Oregon District. "At this point, it should be arriving in the middle of July, but the exact timing depends on how the fire season develops," he said, noting it would arrive earlier if conditions warrant. For much of last summer, a DC-7 contracted to ODF was based in Medford. It carried a payload of some 3,000 gallons of fire retardant. "We're not sure yet what type of plane we'll get this year," he said, adding that the DC-7 worked well as an air tanker. "They can get down real low, slow down and make a pretty accurate drop." Fire season in Jackson and Josephine counties began June 27 last year. The ODF responds to wildfires on private, county, state and U.S. Bureau of Land Management forests and brushlands. "It could be as much as a month ahead of that this year if we keep in this dry pattern we're in now," he said. "Right now, the fire season forecast is calling for lower than normal wildfire activity in the greater Northwest. But that or may not have any meaning for us in the greater Rogue Basin. "We typically have the hottest and longest fire seasons of any place west of the Cascades," he added. In anticipation of the coming fire season, the BLM's Medford District and the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Crews have burned hundreds of acres near rural communities to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires in July and August. Most of that burning is in the form of handpiles of woody debris. That program will continue as conditions allow, officials said. Daily updated recorded fire information about prescribed burns on local federal forestlands in Jackson and Josephine counties can be obtained by calling 618-2354 or 800 267-3126. The U.S. Forest Service, whose national forest land is generally in higher elevations than that protected by ODF, will have 16 air tankers on contract nationally for the 2006 fire season, officials said. "The Northwest will get them when they need them during the fire season," said Rose Davis, spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. "We have a couple tankers sitting in the South now. Temperatures are already heating up down there." Although the fleet is aging with some aircraft dating back to the 1950s, an agency inspection program has found the planes are good to go for the coming fire season, she said. In 2004, the agency terminated contracts for many of its air tankers because of concerns over airworthiness. Three of the older tankers crashed between 1994 and 2002, killing seven crew members. In addition to having a fixed-wing fleet ready to go, there are also plenty of veteran wildland firefighters ready for the coming season, Davis said. "We've got all kinds of firefighters out there," she said. "We've got extra engines. We've got a great fleet of helicopters. We're in good shape." The ODF expects to have about 50 firefighters ready to respond in Jackson County and the same number in Josephine County, Ballou said. "That's for the initial attack — they are scattered around both counties," he said, noting that firefighters and engines will be placed throughout the counties as the fire danger increases. The agency works closely with local fire districts in both counties. Although fire season has yet to start, local firefighters have been busy putting out fires throughout the two counties since mid-April, Ballou observed. "This past week we've had fires just about every day," he said of human-caused fires. "By and large, people are doing a good job of being safe. But there is still a relatively small number who don't seem to be paying attention to safety." A wildfire caused by human negligence, such as an abandoned debris pile, can be costly, he said. "They can be billed for the cost of fighting a fire," he said. "The minimum cost of us going out and putting out a small grass fire is $1,500 to $2,000. If we have to use a helicopter, the cost can run up to $10,000 real fast." 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