Crews prepare to hit any fires from lightning.Byline: BILL BISHOP The Register-Guard Firefighters were bracing Friday for lightning storms predicted to pass over dry forests in Lane County through the evening and into today. Meanwhile, the Office Bridge Fire near Westfir was 70 percent contained late Friday. Several lightning strikes were recorded Friday in western Lane County and 17 eastern Lane County, but no fires had been reported as a result, said Paul Bell, a district forester with the Oregon Department of Forestry. "We're sitting on pins and needles pins and needles pl.n. A tingling sensation felt in a part of the body numbed from lack of circulation. Idiom: on pins and needles In a state of tense anticipation. here," he said. Some of the 409 firefighters assigned to the Office Bridge Fire, along with other state forestry workers and equipment, are in position to attack any fires sparked by lightning on a 140,00-acre area around Oakridge, fire information officer Bernie Pineda said. "We're pre-positioned. We have folks out there. When it happens, we'll ring the bell, and they'll jump on it," he said. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , the 160-acre Office Bridge Fire should be contained by early next week barring unforeseen complications, Pineda said. Firefighters encountered one of those unforeseen circumstances Thursday when several members of a 20-member crew experienced headaches and dizziness as they mopped up hot spots hot spots acute moist dermatitis. around the old Hines Lumber Co. mill site. Specialists from Eugene's regional hazardous materials response team determined that the crew had been exposed to a high concentration of carbon monoxide carbon monoxide, chemical compound, CO, a colorless, odorless, tasteless, extremely poisonous gas that is less dense than air under ordinary conditions. It is very slightly soluble in water and burns in air with a characteristic blue flame, producing carbon dioxide; . They concluded that the gas came from incomplete burning of underground layers of bark and chips that had accumulated and become covered by underbrush over the years. Fire managers elected to set up an irrigation irrigation, in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice. system over the area to saturate sat·u·rate v. Abbr. sat. 1. To imbue or impregnate thoroughly. 2. To soak, fill, or load to capacity. 3. To cause a substance to unite with the greatest possible amount of another substance. the smoldering smol·der also smoul·der intr.v. smol·dered, smol·der·ing, smol·ders 1. To burn with little smoke and no flame. 2. underground material so crews won't have to work in the area. They also set up berms and absorbent materials to prevent runoff from draining into the nearby North Fork of the Middle Fork of the Willamette River, Pineda said. Thursday's testing was the second instance in as many days requiring the Eugene-based team to check for potential hazards to firefighters. They were summoned Wednesday when a crew stumbled on old barrels and containers that had burned. The team found no apparent hazard. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion