KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - The 2019 Fire Season has officially ended for Klamath and Lake Counties. Fire management personnel from the Oregon Department of Forestry, Klamath-Lake District, in cooperation with other local fire agencies and departments declared the termination of the 2019 season as of 12:01 am Friday, September 27, 2019. “Fire Season” for the area has been in effect since June 10, 2019.

The ending of fire season lifts the ban on Open Debris burning in Klamath and Lake Counties. Logging Operation requirements including watchman services and fire equipment on site, in effect on private, county, and state lands have also been lifted.

Check with your local rural structural fire district for burning regulations within their districts and the county health departments for air quality restrictions. The Oregon Department of Forestry, Klamath-Lake District does not issue or require burn permits on lands solely protected by them when fire season is not in effect.

Fire managers from the Klamath-Lake District, Oregon Department of Forestry [ODF], in cooperation with other local wildland fire agencies and structural fire departments, would like to remind the public that just because fire season has been terminated, fire starts and spread may still occur under the right conditions. Please continue to use fire safe practices all year-round.

Landowners need to remember that any burning escaping their control is their liability and they could be billed for the fire suppression costs. Be cautious, be fire safe.

The Oregon Department of Forestry would like to thank its cooperators, landowners and the people of Klamath and Lake Counties for their assistance in preventing fires and keeping the majority of the fire starts small during 2019.

During the 2019 season, Klamath-Lake District has documented 63 fires. From the total number of fires, approximately half of those where human-caused. The largest fire on the district was the Ward Fire, started by lightning which burned 1,301 acres. In addition, ODF personnel responded to and assisted in suppressing numerous other agency fires.

Klamath Falls News coverage of the 2019 Wildfire Season is brought to you by Ace Towing and Turn Thom Point S.