The Bucksin Fire on June 15.
Photo courtesy of Craig Hingley, Assistant Fire Management Officer, Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest.
Hot weather is coming to the region this weekend, which concerns fire officials. As a precaution, fire managers say they're ramping up resources in anticipation for more blazes.
"I'm sure everyone is aware of the heat wave that is predicted over the next several days," Tom Fields, Oregon's Department of Forestry Fire Prevention Coordinator, said in a statement. "While we're all looking for ways to stay cool, now is not the time to be careless with activities that could lead to a wildfire."
Wildfires are burning in Washington, Oregon and Northern California. So far this season, none of the largest fires are fully contained.
Jessica Gardetto, a spokesperson with the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, said triple-digit temperatures coupled with the ongoing drought makes the region vulnerable to dry lightning strikes.
"We are ramping up our fire resources for this weekend because we do expect to get fire if we do get dry lightning," she said.
So far, Alaska is having the worst fire season. Gardetto said there are hundreds of fires there, some that officials haven’t been able to reach.