ODF Southwest District announces fire season starts this Friday

Mariah Mills April 29, 2020

Last Updated: April 29, 2020

MEDFORD, Ore. — The Oregon Department of Forestry – Southwest District made an official announcement this morning.

The start dates for fire season in southwest Oregon the last 5 years have been in June.

A spokesperson for ODF says it’s happening now because of drier conditions.

“We had more than 30 escaped burn pile fires during the month of April, so that has pointed us to go into fire season a month earlier than normal,” said public information officer, Brian Ballou.

ODF wants to remind everyone the start of fire season means all backyard debris burning will be prohibited and no burn permits will be handed out.

Mariah Mills

View More Posts

NBC5 News reporter Mariah Mills is a Medford native. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor's Degree in journalism. She also minored in sociology. In school, she covered Oregon athletics for the student-run television station, Duck TV. When she's not reporting, she’s reading, hiking and rooting for her favorite teams, the Seattle Seahawks and the Oregon Ducks.