September 6, 2019 3:40 a.m.
Thunderstorms which moved onto the Umpqua National Forest on Thursday morning, brought multiple lightning strikes to the area.
Mark Turney of the Forest Service said wildland firefighters were responding to several smoke reports and 2 confirmed fires. On Thursday a fixed wing reconnaissance detection flight was looking for additional starts.
Turney said so far this season, USFS firefighters have responded to 20 wildfires. Some of those were caused by lightning with several others having been caused by humans. In all cases, wildfires have been kept to under 1/4 acre with the majority only being 1/10th of an acre.
Turney said with increased forest visitation and the forest remaining in elevated fire danger, the chance for human caused fires increases. He said people should:
*Be particularly careful with campfires and understand the restrictions that are currently in place.
*People that have a campfire should have the necessary tools with them, including water, a bucket, and a shovel to ensure that the fire is dead out before leaving it unattended.
*Avoid parking vehicles in dry vegetation.
*Those who are towing a camp or utility trailer, should not allow the tow chain to hit the pavement.
For additional details, go to www.fs.usda.gov./umpqua/