The Colestin Rural Fire District is no longer operational. As a courtesy to our local community, this website will continue to be maintained on a limited basis and for a limited period of time; however, we are no longer liable for responding to fire calls, medical calls, or any other emergencies. We have not yet been annexed into Jackson County Fire District 5, although we will have their support during fire season, so at this time, District 5 is not primarily responsible for responses within our district. Instead, all calls should be directed to 9-1-1. The appropriate resources will be dispatched accordingly, and as they are available.
- Fire Season Info
- Wildfire Prevention
- Fire & Home Safety
Fire News
& Prevention Information Links & Resources
On this page:
- Key info links, wildfire incident(s) and smoke information;
- Fire Prevention links, including local, state & federal agencies;
- Fire Prevention & Protection Printed Publications;
- Other References about Fire, Non-Fiction;
- Other References about Fire, Fiction;
- Other Forestry-related sites & sources of interest
Key information links:
- All wildfires through the Incident Information System:
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/.
- Updates on Oregon wildfires:
The Oregon Dept. of Forestry's blog: http://wildfireoregondeptofforestry.blogspot.com/;
ODF's Southwest Oregon district blog: http://www.swofire.com/);
- CalFire's Incident Information list: http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_current
- How to cope with smoke: see
below.
- Oregon Gov. Kate Brown's message about wildfire prevention and other useful fire season and fire prevention info: www.KeepOregonGreen.org.
For the LATEST WILDFIRE INCIDENTS & UPDATES, see:
Inciweb:
inciweb.nwcg.gov/
(Inciweb - general)
inciweb.nwcg.gov/state/38/
(fires in Oregon)
inciweb.nwcg.gov/unit/3399/
(Southwest Oregon District)
inciweb.nwcg.gov/state/5/
(fires in California)
inciweb.nwcg.gov/unit/21/
(fires on the Klamath Nat'l Forest, CA)
inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4036/
(The Beaver Fire, north of Hwy 96 near the Klamath River, Siskiyou
County, CA - 32,496 acres)
The Oregon Dept. of Forestry:
www.swofire.com
(Southwest Oregon District Blog - latest fire news & updates)
www.swofire.oregon.gov/
wildfireoregondeptofforestry.blogspot.com/
www.twitter.com/swofire/
ODF's blogs have further links to additional current and
archived news and information.
The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center:
nwccweb.us/index.aspx
(NWCC home page)
nwccweb.us/information/firemap.aspx
(Northwest fire locations map)
www.nwccweb.us/interactivemap/
index.html?webmap=ed0a7dad32fe4848b20c6f91c74c79ea
(Northwest large fire map)
nwccinfo.blogspot.com/
The National Interagency Fire Center:
www.nifc.gov/index.html
(NIFC home page)
www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/nfn.htm
(NIFC fire info)
activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/lg_fire2.php
(large fires national map)
For CURRENT SMOKE INFORMATION, see:
oregonsmoke.blogspot.com
www.deq.state.or.us/AQ/burning/wildfires/index.htm
(Oregon Dept. of Environmental Quality - smoke & fire)
californiasmokeinfo.blogspot.com
(for northern CA)
For smoke and health info, see below.
Due to increased health hazards related to smoke, the following information was provided by our former Chief Medical Officer, Karen Dwyer, R.N.:
The American
Lung Association offers helpful information in its
"Forest Fires and Respiratory Health Fact Sheet"
on its website at:
http://www.lung.org/healthy-air/outdoor/protecting-your-health/what-makes-air-unhealthy/forest-fires-respiratory-health-fact-sheet.html.
(A printable pdf version is available here.)
How to protect yourself:
* Reduce the amount of time spent outdoors. This can usually provide some protection, especially in a tightly closed, air-conditioned house in which the air conditioner can be set to re-circulate air instead of bringing in outdoor air.
* Reduce the amount of time engaged in vigorous outdoor physical activity. This can be an important and effective strategy to decrease exposure to inhaled air pollutants and minimize health risks during a smoke event.
* Drink plenty of water or other non-alcohol or decaffeinated fluids.
* Reduce other sources of indoor air pollution such as burning cigarettes and candles; using gas, propane, and wood burning stoves and furnaces; cooking; and vacuuming.
* Individuals with heart disease or lung diseases such as asthma should follow their health care providers’ advice about prevention and treatment of these diseases.
Related links:
- http://www.lung.org/associations/states/illinois/news/protect-yourself-from-forest.html
- http://www.epa.gov/airnow/smoke/Smoke2003final.pdf
- For air quality updates, see Oregon DEQ Air
Monitoring at: http://www.deq.state.or.us/aqi/index.aspx.
[This includes an online map showing air quality in different
parts of the state.] and
http://www.deq.state.or.us/aq/burning/wildfires/visibility.htm.
- Updates on Oregon smoke levels from multiple agencies
are also available at http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com.
- For the latest wildfire incident and smoke updates,
see www.inciweb.org.
- For fire updates, see the Oregon Dept. of Forestry's
blog at: http://www.swofire.oregon.gov/
Fire Prevention information links, including local, state & federal agencies:
Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) Fire Program
ODF Southwestern Oregon Region Wildland Fire Info
Rogue Valley Fire Prevention Co-op - New!!
Wildland / Urban Interface in Oregon - ODF's site has loads of info on this topic, including sections on Senate Bill 360, the Oregon Forestland-Urban Interface Fire Protection Act of 1997, the law that declares that property owners have a basic responsibility to provide their property with fire protection and use fire preventive methods. Also includes discussions on "Living in the Wildland / Urban Interface," "Evaluate Your Home and Property," and more.
Fire Information / Jackson County Area
FIREWISE - National Wildland / Urban Interface Fire Protection Program
Wildfire News of the Wildland Firefighters Foundation
National Interagency Fire Center
Multi-Agency National Fire Plan Implementation (USDA)
National Interagency Coordination Center
USDA Forest Service / Fire and Aviation Management
National Weather Service / Fire Weather Program
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) / US Fire Administration
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Office of Fire and Aviation
Applegate / Jackson County Fire District #9
Jackson County Fire District #3 Home Page
Jackson County Air Quality / Open Burning Ordinance
City of Ashland Fire Department
City of Medford Fire Department
Oregon State University's Josephine County Extension Service
California Department of Forestry
Jackson County Geographic Information Systems (GIS) - fire district and map info or Smart Map (select Interactive Maps to search specific properties.) The GIS systems map combines layers of information about a place. You can analyze your level of fire safety or risk with this map.
University of California Forest Products Laboratory
Wildfire Sprinkler Protection Systems
The Renters Guide at: http://www.rentersinsurance.com (click on the "Fire Prevention and Response" tab). This site has lots of links to many more Home Fire Prevention topics and sub-topics. The link is from Mrs. Anne Hughes, who teaches at the Monument Charter School and says that she finds our links page useful to help gather information for her kids' lessons and activities. We commend the kids for learning about forest fires and fire prevention in their study of the environment, and we thank the class for their civic participation in this way!
Fire Prevention & Protection Printed Publications:
"Living With Fire: A Guide for the Homeowner," published by the Jackson County Planning Department, and mailed to all Jackson County listed landowners in spring, 2001. This is a thorough, excellent source of all kinds of info on wildfire and rural - urban interface fire protection and prevention. Additional copies may still be available from any Jackson County library branch, the Jackson County Planning Dept. at 10 So. Oakdale Ave., Room 100 (in the old Jackson County Courthouse) in Medford, or from ODF's office at 5286 Table Rock Road in Central Point.
"Is Your Home Fire Safe?" and "Wildfire: Are You Prepared?" published by U.S. Fire Administration Publications Center (free; 800 / 561-3356).
California Wildfire Landscaping, by Maureen Gilmer. Taylor Publishing Co., Dallas, TX, 1994. $10.95. "What to do before, during and after a wildfire ... the selection of a 'defensible' homesite and building materials, insurance, and fire-resistant landscaping..." Also covers "Creating Bands of Protection with Plants, Managing Native Vegetation, [and] Getting Help: Public and Private Resources," and "How to Comply with the High Fire Zones Law." Lots of useful info on establishing natural fire breaks.
"Living with Fire." San Mateo County, CA., Fire Safe Committee (free; 650 / 573-3848).
Other References about Fire: Non-Fiction
Wildland Fires: History of Forest Fires in Siskiyou County, by Lee Morford. Privately published by the late Morford, a lifelong forest ranger on the Klamath National Forest and later a wildland fire consultant. Cost: $15 but generally unavailable and out of print. Libraries in Siskiyou County may have a copy. Chronicles firefighting in this area during the past century. Both a fascinating personal account, and a fact-filled historical triptych.
Fire in America: A Cultural History of Wildland and Rural Fire, by Stephen J. Pyne. Princeton UP: Princeton, New Jersey, 1982. A very well-written, erudite analysis and synthesis of information about fire and its cultural history in this country's wildlands. Connects "...the basic science of fire and ecosystems to management and policy discussions; not by way of overgeneralization, but region by region and ecosystem by ecosystem." Covers fire and fire policies in America from pre-history to Paiute and frontier forestry and the evolution of fire management to the present-day conservation movement. A recognized authority on fire, Pyne has also published 5 or 6 other works dealing with different fire topics.
Fire and Civilization, by Johan Goudsblom. Penguin: London, 1992. (paper; U.S. $11.95) A worldwide survey of the ancient history of fire and its cultural uses and significances, through the industrial revolution. Goudsblom is a professor of sociology at the University of Amsterdam.
The Firefighter's Workout Book, by Michael Stefano. "A Thirty Minute a Day Train-For-Life Program for Men and Women." (hardcover, $24.95)
Jumping Fire: A Smoke Jumper's Memoir of Fighting Wildfire, by Murry A. Taylor. (Harcourt; paper, $14.) "...Taylor's riveting memoir of 35 years of fighting wildfires in Alaska..."
Fire, by Sebastian Junger. (paper, $13.95) "The author of The Perfect Storm takes us behind the scenes of the world's most dangerous jobs, from smoke jumper to freedom fighter."
Fire Line: Summer Battles of the West, by Michael Thoele.
Other References about Fire: Fiction
"USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky" in A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, by Norman Maclean. Chicago: The Univ. of Chicago Press, 1976. Maclean became an author after retiring from teaching English at the Univ. of Chicago. His stories are part fiction, part memoir, informed by his own experience of the early 20th century, infused with deadpan humor and sobering reflections, and narrated in a voice that only a master of language and metaphor can speak from.
Hole in the Sky, by William Kittredge.
A Fine and Pleasant Misery, by Patrick F. McManus.
Other Sites & Sources of Interest
ODF's D.L. Phipps Nursery - info & application forms for reforestation seedlings. An excellent source of seedlings of all types in bulk quantities available to the non-commercial landowner engaged in reforestation. [Now defunct; however, many good alternate sources for bulk seedling lots can be found online at reasonable prices, including Brooks Tree Farm outside of Salem, Oregon.]
Oregon State University Forestry Extension Service, County extension foresters and publications.
Guide to Reforestation in Western Oregon is available online (in pdf format), and from ODF offices and from the Oregon State University College of Forestry.
Woodland Workbook: A How-To Guide for the Woodland Owner/Manager (WOOD WB; $41.50) is a three-ring binder containing 29 core publications, is "very useful," and is available from OSU Extension Service.
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