Fire prevention is changing across the state due to coronavirus precautions.
That includes measures to reducing smoke in the air, and the Oregon Department of Forestry is holding a big burden of debt as it awaits reimbursements from the U.S. government.
State lawmakers hope to ease that burden soon.
Fire season is always top of mind for fire officials but now, so is the novel coronavirus.
Eric Johnson, with the Interagency Fire Management, says prescribed burning has been put on hold in Oregon.
“What if employees become sick while we already have a fire on the ground what if we’re putting smoke into the air and it doesn’t go as planned,” asked Johnson.
Extra smoke in the air during a pandemic is of course not a good thing. That's why the Oregon Department of Forestry is also changing its burning guidelines.