The Bend Fire Department reports that they are responding to a brush fire in Shevlin Park. The public is being urged to stay away. Here’s the latest from Battalion Chief Dave Howe: There is a brush fire. ¼ acre in size and growing, burning just downstream from Aspen Hall in Shevlin Park. The fire is […]
Fire
Posted inOpinion
Letters 4/28-5/5
TIME FOR OUR FOREST SERVICE TO GO SMOKELESS! The Issue: Our Forest Service seems to be stepping up their number of prescribed burns each season, starting in the spring when the weather is nice and clear, and continuing through the fall…when the weather is nice and clear. Consequently, our purported «300 Days of Sun» are often […]
Posted inOutside
Go Here 4/22-4/29
Out of the Fire, Into the Frying Pan
Many of us think of wildfire as being a destructive force, but fire plays a number of important ecological roles in the landscape. The ponderosa forests we know and love here are dependent upon periodic wildfire for nutrient cycling, revegetation, and to prevent the buildup of fuels that, given enough time, will produce the sort […]
Posted inNews
Fidelity Sells Skyline Forest to Singapore-Based Company, Future of Conservation Efforts Unknown
Skyline Forest, the 33,000 square-acre swath of forest land northwest of Skyliners Road, has a new owner. Singapore-based company Whitefish Cascade Forest Resources, LLC, purchased the forest as part of an acquisition of 197,000 square acres of forest lands in Deschutes and Klamath counties previously owned by Fidelity Financial’s Cascade Timberlands. The sale is controversial because […]
Posted inNews
Bend Firefighters Respond to Sweet Saigon Kitchen Fire
Bend Fire & Rescue responded to a kitchen fire at Sweet Saigon (915 NW Wall St) at about 11:15 this morning. No word yet on damages, but the fire appeared to be completely under control within about 10 minutes. With fire danger levels at “extreme,” prompt responses like these help prevent smaller fires from burning out […]
Posted inNews
What in the World: Flowers in Beards, Journos in Detention, and Fires in Central Oregon
FASHION: It’s been said that beards have reached their peak and are on their way out of style, but can fusing facial hair with flower chains postpone their demise? You be the judge. Also, please send us photos of your Bend floral beard crowns. (Mic) IMMIGRATION: Activist and journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, who came out three years ago about his […]
Posted inOpinion
Letters 6/19-6/24
IN REPLY TO “PREGAMING FOR THE TOWN-GOWN SHOWDOWN” (6/19) Many people in this TOWN are for GOWN (new Westside OSU campus) so it’s not really a Town VS Gown situation like your headline says. It’s a NIMBY [Not In My Back Yard] vs. Higher Ed Supporters/Normal People/OSU showdown. This makes it sound like the entire […]
Posted inNews
Update: Two Bulls Fire Now 5 Percent Contained
Matt Fox The Two Bulls Fire is now at a 5 percent containment, according to an update from the Central Oregon Joint Information Center. At the moment, the fire is not in the Bridge Creek Watershed and officials say the Outback facilities are not in the path of the fire. About 50 residents are still […]
Posted inNews
More Fires Follow Last Night’s Lightning
BLM Oregon Just because it’s raining, doesn’t mean there can’t be fires. According to the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center, area fire crews had responded to 48 separate incidents as of this morning. Storms in Central Oregon started yesterday afternoon and continued through the night. The lightning display made for some great front porch beer […]
Posted inNews
Warm Springs on a Hot Streak
The changing face of fighting fires in the American West
Last Monday, when I arrived on the Warm Springs Reservation, it was a whirlwind of confusion. A pillar of smoke billowed in the background. The Warm Springs Incident Management Team was in the process of transferring firefighting duties to Oregon Interagency Incident Management Team 4 (ORIIMT4)—a well-trained crew made up of federal, state, and municipal […]