The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Wildland Fire Service (USWFS) announced this week that prescribed burning operations are beginning across Oregon and Washington as weather, fuel, and air quality conditions become favorable. Planned to continue through fall and winter, the burns represent a critical investment in reducing the risk of future catastrophic wildfires — an investment that takes on added urgency after Oregon's record-breaking 2026 fire season.

The Case for Prescribed Fire

"Prescribed fire is one of our most effective tools for reducing wildfire risk and improving habitat," said Josh O'Connor, Northwest Geographic Area Fire Chief for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, in the official announcement. "By carefully planning and executing these burns, we're helping protect communities and strengthen the health of our public lands."

Prescribed fire works by intentionally reducing the accumulation of dead trees, dry brush, and understory vegetation — commonly referred to as "fuel loading" — that builds up over time when fire is absent from a landscape. Without periodic fire, these fuels reach levels that allow wildfires to spread faster, burn hotter, and become far more difficult to control. Oregon's 2026 fire season — with 2.1 million acres burned and $1.4 billion in suppression costs — illustrates the consequences of decades of fuel accumulation at scale.

Techniques and Priorities

BLM and USWFS crews will use several techniques during this season's prescribed burn program:

  • Broadcast burning — Application of fire across an entire treatment area, often used in open grasslands, shrublands, or forests to clear accumulated fuels broadly.
  • Hand pile ignitions — Burning of slash piles hand-stacked by crews in areas where broadcast burning is not feasible.
  • Machine pile ignitions — Burning of larger slash piles built using mechanized equipment after thinning operations.

Burns are focused on two priority areas: reducing risk in the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), where homes and communities are most vulnerable to approaching fires; and restoring ecological function to fire-dependent landscapes that have historically depended on periodic, low-intensity fire to maintain biodiversity and forest health.

What the Public Should Know About Smoke

Prescribed burns produce temporary smoke, which can affect nearby communities. The BLM and USWFS provided the following public guidance:

  • Smoke may settle in low-lying areas overnight during and after burns
  • Residents are encouraged to close windows at night to limit smoke exposure
  • Drivers in smoky areas should slow down and turn on headlights
  • People with heart or lung disease, asthma, or other chronic conditions should consult their physicians about smoke protection and monitor local air quality maps at airnow.gov

All burns are conducted only when weather, fuel conditions, and air quality fall within prescribed parameters established by fire managers. Firefighters use a combination of natural features and constructed control lines to keep fires contained, with protocols in place to minimize community smoke impacts.

How to Stay Informed

Specific information about upcoming and active prescribed burns in Oregon and Washington is available through the BLM Oregon-Washington office online. Residents near National Forest lands can also contact their local USFS Ranger District for information on planned burns in their area.

The fall prescribed burn season typically runs from October through December, with some operations extending into January and February when conditions allow. This year's program comes after one of the most severe wildfire seasons in Oregon and Washington history, making the fuel reduction work especially critical for the communities and landscapes at greatest risk.