Bad Year for Forest Fire Profits September 19, 2004 http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/09/19/a1.fireseason.0919.html Some like it hot, but year's wildfire season was not By Scott Maben aaThe Register-Guard OAKRIDGE - One of the slowest fire seasons in years is grinding to a muted, soggy end in Oregon. Fire officials last spring warned of a possible repeat of the explosive 2002 season. But the area that burned in the state this year is 10 percent of the 10-year average and less than one-fifth of last year's acreage. Such a sleepy summer left seasonal fire crews looking for other chores to stay busy. They cleared trees blocking roads and trails, covered logging slash piles to keep them dry for fall burning, performed upkeep at campgrounds and snow shelters. "It's disappointing," said Jason Dodge, 21, of Oakridge. "I like the excitement, the action. I do this job for the thrill." Saturday was the final day for his 20-person crew, assigned to the Middle Fork Ranger District in the Willamette National Forest. Dodge and his crewmates, most in their late teens and early 20s, spent one of their final days in a drill, digging a fire break through viney maple and Douglas fir. photo Members of a fire crew spend their lunch break on their truck playing cards. The lack of fires left crews looking for other chores to stay busy. This season's fires burned 10 percent of the 10-year average and less than one-fifth of last year's acreage. Ashley Coey, 18, clears a path through forest land soon to be logged, getting the closest thing to firefighting experience before heading back to college in Eastern Oregon. Crews spent the summer clearing brush and covering logging slash piles during the slow fire season. Photos: Brian Davies / The Register-Guard Moving in a line through the damp woods, the firefighters cut and chopped and scraped a shallow trench in soil saturated by recent rains. After a lunch break, they retraced their steps and covered the line with the brush they had just removed. "They're young, they enjoy getting out and doing something physical," crew boss Jose Mercado said. "But I think they prefer a big fire season. They get to make some pretty good money." Last year was such a season. The crew didn't have to tackle odd jobs to pass the time. "There were no projects because we were on fires all the time," Mercado said. This summer, only a few small, lightning-sparked fires demanded a response from local crews. Few blazes of consequence broke out anywhere in the state. The largest burned 13,540 acres on the Warm Springs Indian reservation in July and August. That's a modest-sized fire most years. Lightning strikes usually were followed by rain that doused the flames or kept fires small until crews could track them down. Rapid initial attacks and well-placed firefighting aircraft also played a role, state and federal officials said. Firefighting agencies spent about $16 million on the largest fires this year, compared to more than $89 million last year. Mark Hager, an assistant engine captain stationed on the Middle Fork district, said this was the slowest fire season he's seen in at least 15 years, maybe 20. The past three years were especially active in the region, making this season all that more welcome, said Pat Houghton, assistant intelligence coordinator in the Portland center that orchestrates wildland firefighting efforts in Oregon and Washington. "After going through three very busy seasons, most of the people who work here were relieved by this real quiet season," Houghton said. There was a light toll on timber and wildlife, hardly any structures burned and no casualties were reported. "Nobody got hurt, nobody got killed - that's always a great season," Houghton said. While land managers are surprised and happy that they were spared, summer crews saw little action, travel or overtime and hazard pay. Extra cash from a busy fire season can make or break a student's year. Dodge figures he earned less than $10,000 this year. He might have doubled that if his crew had been sent to fires for much of the summer. On a fire, a crew member can make $300 a day - a 16-hour day toiling in hot, dangerous conditions. Ashley Coey, 18, one of two women on the crew, had hoped to earn more as she heads to Eastern Oregon University in La Grande to study nursing. "The rain sort of interfered with that," said Coey, also of Oakridge. "Still, it wasn't too bad. I learned how it was and what to expect next year." This year, the Middle Fork crew was called up for fires near Warm Springs in north-central Oregon, Reno, Nev., and Redding, Calif. That was a lot more action than many private contract crews saw this year. Eugene-based Skookum Reforestation Inc. had five idle crews in the area waiting for calls that never came, owner Scott Coleman said. The longest any of his crews got out was an eight-day stretch in August on the Bland Mountain 2 fire near Roseburg. "We're hemorrhaging," Coleman said. "It was a disaster. They hardly got out at all." Private fire crews have ballooned to 269 in the state, and competition is fierce even in a busy year. They had little work in Oregon this summer, but 70 crews were deployed to fires in Washington, which had a normal fire season. Worried about a hot, dry summer, Oregon beefed up its firefighting resources, adding four heavy air tankers and seven helicopters that were placed at strategic locations to bolster initial attacks. The state Department of Forestry, which protects 16 million acres of forest lands, reported 6,160 acres burned this year. The 10-year average is 22,760 acres. Taking a break from building the fire line, Dodge said he will resume studying computer network operations at Lane Community College this fall, and he has landed a part-time job in computer support at the Willamette forest headquarters in Eugene. But next summer he hopes to be back on the Oakridge fire crew. "I just love being out here," he said. "Being out here in the woods, you can't beat it. It's excellent." www.registerguard.com | (c) The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon