As Malheur County continues to sizzle under an unnaturally early heat wave, area officials plan to implement a countywide burn ban Thursday. The dry conditions also prompted the Vale District of the Bureau of Land Management to expand fire restrictions on public lands beginning Thursday. Additionally, the National Weather Service[Read More…]

10 a.m. Tuesday UPDATE: The National Weather Service upgraded the Fire Weather Watch to a Red Flag Warning Tuesday morning. The warning will remain in effect from noon to midnight MDT. VALE – The National Weather Service in Boise issued a Fire Weather Watch for Tuesday in most of Malheur[Read More…]

A Bureau of Land Management fire truck waits in a garage bay at the Vale BLM office. A pilot of an air tanker contracted with the BLM crashed near Emmett Tuesday, killing its pilot. (The Enterprise/Rachel Parsons). EMMETT – Federal officials are investigating the crash of a single-engine air tanker[Read More…]

BLM fire crews prepare to deploy from Pole Creek Road to fight the Indian Creek Fire. The Indian Creek Fire expanded to 26,000 acres Thursday and is burning west of Westfall. (BLM photo). VALE – The Indian Creek fire burning about nine miles east of Juntura expanded to 26,000 acres[Read More…]

Bureau of Land Management crews conduct Burnout operations off U.S. Highway 20 at Jonesboro ranch Wednesday, Aug. 19. (Photo courtesy of the BLM). JUNTURA – The Indian Creek Fire burning northeast of Juntura expanded to 14,000 acres Wednesday and crews from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management are also contending[Read More…]

Firefighters use a burn out operation on the Indian Creek Fire on Monday, Aug. 17. The wildfire is burning on rangeland northeast of Juntura. (Photo by Brandon Rea, Vale BLM) TUESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: The Baldy Mountain Fire was “actively spreading” north and had grown to more than 500 acres, according[Read More…]

Recruits stay busy at the Bureau of Land Management Vale District annual firefighter training school in Unity, Oregon, in June. With the fire danger on public lands increasing, BLM officials want the public to be aware of restrictions and to be safe while hiking or camping. (The Enterprise/Rachel Parsons). VALE[Read More…]

A Bureau of Land Management fire crew conducts pile burning of cut juniper at Hunter Mountain, north of Juntura, earlier in the year. A red flag warning has been issued for the local area because of expected thunderstorm activity. (The Enterprise/Photo Courtesy of BLM) VALE – Malheur County is under[Read More…]

BLM Vale Office. (The Enterprise/file) The National Weather Service in Boise issued a red flag warning in preparation for “abundant lightning” expected across all districts Thursday afternoon through Friday. Chuck Redman, fire weather meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Boise, said that the thunderstorms will start out dry on[Read More…]

VALE – The National Weather Service out of Boise issued a fire weather watch for the area early this morning, but it has since been raised to a warning, indicating that scattered thunderstorms are possible across Malheur County Thursday.  These thunderstorms could bring brief heavy rain, abundant lightning as well[Read More…]