Fire specialists plan to complete a controlled burn this afternoon in an area seven miles southeast of Bend where they burned 45 acres on Thursday.
Friday’s 40-acre burn will be south of China Hat Road and a half mile north of Kelsey Butte. It is part of a 2001 environmental assessment area that involves several burns intended to reduce forest floor woody debris in strategic patches so fires are less likely to spread and safer to suppress.
Fire specialists planned two burns in the area on Thursday, but cancelled one because of unfavorable winds. They often postpone burns if winds are not forecasted to disperse smoke to less-populated areas.
Burn will be conducted south of China Hat Road and a half mile north of Kelsey Butte.
The Oregon DEQ air quality index showed Bend had good conditions Friday morning, following Thursday’s burn. A link to the current air quality index for Bend and the rest of the state can be found at the following web page: http://www.deq.state.or.us/aq/api/index.asp.
Fire specialists plan to complete several Deschutes National Forest controlled burns through next week before forecasted precipitation arrives in Central Oregon.