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Prescribed Fire’s Impact on Oregon Fire Evident to Stakeholders
Release Date: Aug 29, 2014
Contact(s): D-A Brabazon (530) 226-2494 and (231) 590-7004
Shortly after 5 p.m. on Sunday August 24, firefighting resources responded to a report of a wildfire two miles west and just north of Highway 299 on the edge of the small community of Weaverville, CA near Oregon Mountain.
By nightfall, almost 300 from federal, state and local firefighters were actively engaged in suppression efforts along with air support. Steep terrain and dry vegetation fueled by wind events to make effort difficult. Within those three hours, the quickly spreading wildfire had burned 580 acres, mandating the evacuation of 150 people in the wildfire’s path, and closing Highway 299 to one lane of traffic.
As the fire progressed to the north of Weaverville, it eventually reached the Five Cent prescribed fire project. The fire behavior changed dramatically and allowed firefighters to gain valuable ground to suppress the fire and contain it at 580 acres.
A collaborative effort between federal, state and local stakeholders to reduce fuels in the Weaverville Community Forest, the fuels reduction project demonstrated the effectiveness of prescribed fire and is captured in the attached success story.
- Information pertaining to prescribed fire can be found at: http://www.norcalrxfirecouncil.org/.
- Information pertaining to preparing for a wildfire can be found at http://www.readyforwildfire.org.
- For more information on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest go to www.fs.usda.gov/stnf.
The mission of the Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the Forest Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nation's clean water supply, a value estimated at $7.2 billion per year. The agency has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850 million forested acres within the U.S., of which 100 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.
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