Prineville — Recent thunderstorm activity has increased fire starts in Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) Central Oregon District, which includes lands in the Columbia River Gorge. While these storms have brought with them isolated precipitation and increased humidity it is not enough to mitigate the record dry fuel conditions across the area, according to an ODF press release.

Kiel Nairns, Acting Unit Forester for The Dalles Unit, cautions landowners and the public, not to get complacent with the recent precipitation. “The moisture from these thunderstorms is only going to dampen fuels for a few hours, and then we’ll be back to the same extreme fuel conditions.”

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