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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW (No heading) ... Since You Asked: More information about Olympic sports gear ... Details emerge of Jacksonville runner's ordeal ... (No heading) ... Since You Asked: More information about Olympic sports gear ... Details emerge of Jacksonville runner's ordeal ... A Slow Burn Fire season has flamed out so far this year, but those who know warn that the worst might be yet to come During the dog days of August, Nate Green can usually be found packing a Pulaski, wearing fire-resistant Nomex smudged with soot and smelling of forest fire smoke. Comment By Paul Fattig MailTribune.com By Paul Fattig Posted Aug. 13, 2011 at 12:01 AM Updated Aug 13, 2011 at 3:00 AM By Paul Fattig Posted Aug. 13, 2011 at 12:01 AM Updated Aug 13, 2011 at 3:00 AM » Social News During the dog days of August, Nate Green can usually be found packing a Pulaski, wearing fire-resistant Nomex smudged with soot and smelling of forest fire smoke. But the Southern Oregon University junior who has spent the past five summers fighting wildfires to help pay his way through college hasn't been on a wildfire all summer. "It has been totally slow — no fires to speak of," said Green, 22, a 2008 graduate of Illinois Valley High School in Cave Junction. "During my first and second seasons, I made about 13 G's ($13,000) fighting fires but not this summer," said Green, a music major. "You make a lot more fighting fires. You get a lot of overtime, work up to 16-hour days sometimes. We're not doing that now." Like many local seasonal wildland firefighters, Green, who works for Grayback Forestry Inc. based in Merlin, hasn't dug a fire line with his Pulaski all summer, thanks to a thus-far largely benign fire season in Western Oregon. Instead, he has been working on forest restoration projects. "We've been doing forestry work — thinning and piling brush," said Green, who appreciates the work. "It just seems like we've been having less fires the last couple of seasons." While veteran wildland firefighters caution that the region isn't out of the woods just yet in terms of experiencing large wildfires before fire season dies away this fall, they agree that cooler-than-normal weather has put a damper on the usual blaze of summer wildfires. As of mid-August, the Oregon Department of Forestry's Southwest Oregon District has had 56 fires which have burned about 13 acres. The 10-year average for this time of year for the district that covers Jackson and Josephine counties is 129 fires burning 4,912 acres. Moreover, no acres have yet been burned this fire season on either the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest or the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Medford District, officials report. Umpqua National Forest officials report only 13 acres having been burned thus far. Officials point to an unusually wet spring followed by abnormally cool summer for the lack of major wildfires in the region. The local highest temperature yet for the summer in Medford was the 97 degrees recorded on July 24, according to Chuck Glaser at the National Weather Service station at the Medford airport. While it is unusual it is not unprecedented, he noted. There were four summers — 1947, 1954, 1957 and 1989 — when the mercury did not crest 100 degrees in Medford, he said. "We plan for years like this," said Mike Wheelock, owner of Grayback Forestry. "Fire fighting is just one of the things we do. We don't depend on it. We do other things — thinning, fuels manager, forest restoration." Wheelock, a former smokejumper who first fought wildfires in 1973, said fire seasons seem to run in cycles. "There were so many bad fire years in a row for a while there but every three or four years you get something like this," he said. "Generally, by mid-July, we usually have fires going on." However, other than sending a few crews to Arizona and New Mexico early in the season, Grayback firefighters have been focusing on forestry work this summer, he said. That work includes fire prevention projects, he added. Grayback has 140 trained firefighters ready to go at a moment's notice if they are needed, he said. "We do have some college students who aren't getting as much work as they usually do," he acknowledged. In addition to sparing forests, creatures and rural homes, an inactive fire season has another benefit, he said: "It's good for taxpayers." The Rogue River Hotshots, an elite group of firefighters attached to the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest who repel from helicopters into hot spots, are normally fighting a wildfire somewhere in the West in August. But they were en route Friday to Colorado where they will work on thinning a forested area hard hit by a bark beetle infestation, said forest spokeswoman Virginia Gibbons. In the Klamath National Forest in far northern California, initial attack firefighters were taking advantage of the lack of major fires by scheduling training normally held during the off-season, said forest spokesman Tom Lavagnino. At the state Department of Forestry's district office in Central Point, spokesman Brian Ballou noted the district has been able to provide fuel reduction assessments for rural property owners throughout the summer. "We usually don't have any time to do that," he said of the free assessments in summer. But veteran fire weather watchers say it is still far too early for fire fighters to let down their guard. In fact, weatherman Glaser noted it is not unusual for September to be a scorcher in southwest Oregon. For example, the high temperature in Medford did not top 100 degrees until Sept. 8 and 9 in 1963, he said. Ballou agreed, citing the 1987 fire season. "The fire season was very slow until the night of August 30th — then the skies lit up," Ballou said, referring to a dry lightning storm that swept through the region, igniting a chain of fires. That slow-to-warm-up fire season which began May 11 of that year would continue until mid-November, after the Silver complex fire burned some 100,000 acres in southwest Oregon. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected]. By Paul Fattig MailTribune.com By Paul Fattig Posted Aug. 13, 2011 at 12:01 AM Updated Aug 13, 2011 at 3:00 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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