KWSO Fire Info for Fri., Aug. 4, 2023

A small brush fire broke out between mile post 95-96 on highway 26 on the Warm Springs Reservation about 12:40 yesterday afternoon, Aug. 3, 2023.  The fire was contained to just under 5 acres by Crews from Warm Springs Fire Management plus Warm Springs Fire & Safety.  A Fire & Safety tender remained at the scene as fire crews mopped up.  There were no evacuations or road closures.

There is a RED FLAG WARNING in effect for LIGHTNING across much of Central and Eastern Oregon thru tonight.  A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior.

Due do fire danger increasing and Red Flag Warnings issued for a large part of Oregon east of the Cascades, the Oregon State Fire Marshal is pre-positioning firefighters and equipment in Central Oregon with two task forces from Clatsop and Washington counties mobilizing to be pre-positioned in Jefferson County for 72 hours starting today.  They will stay longer if needed adding firefighting capacity if a brush or wildfire breaks out.  The task forces are being centrally-located task forces give the ability to quickly move firefighters to other parts of the state if they are needed.