Wildland firefighters plan to light two prescribed fires today in Central Oregon.
The Cow Meadow prescribed fire will cover 142 acres next to Crane Prairie Reservoir, about 12 miles west of La Pine, and the Cyrus prescribed fire will be on 200 acres, a half mile south of the Cyrus Horse Camp on the Crooked River National Grassland, said Lauren Miller, fire and fuels specialist for the Deschutes National Forest. Both will burn through grassland.
In all, firefighters plan this fall and winter to burn about 1,800 acres in the Deschutes, 250 acres in the Prineville District of the Bureau of Land Management and 5,700 in the Crooked River National Grassland. The two fires today are the first.
Smoke from the Cow Meadow prescribed fire may be visible from Cascade Lakes Highway, but likely not from Bend, Sunriver or La Pine, said Sam Pearcy, a fuels technician for the Deschutes. The fire is planned to start at noon and should put off smoke for two to three hours.
