Resources
The information you need and the alerts that matter.
Common questions
Short, honest answers about living with fire in Central Oregon.
Can Central Oregon have no fire and no smoke?
No. Our forests grew up with fire. Skip it for decades and the fuel piles up. Then when fire comes, it comes big. The real choice is a few smoky days from planned burns, or weeks of wildfire smoke.
What can I do at home?
Start at your walls and work out. Clear needles off the roof and gutters. Move the woodpile away from the house. Keep the first five feet free of anything that burns. Embers are a big reason homes catch, and that’s where they land.
Project Wildfire’s 10 Steps (opens in a new tab)State Fire Marshal’s defensible space guide (opens in a new tab)
It says 0% contained. Are they even doing anything?
Yes, plenty. Containment only counts the part of the fire’s edge with a finished line crews trust to hold. It doesn’t count effort. Hundreds of firefighters can be cutting line while the number sits at 0%. It often jumps once that line holds.
Where are the planes? Why can’t I fly my drone?
Planes don’t put big fires out. Crews on the ground do. Aircraft slow a fire so crews can catch it. They can’t fly in heavy smoke or high wind.
They also fly as low as drones, so one drone grounds them all. On the 2025 Flat Fire near Sisters, one drone stopped the air attack for about 26 minutes.
What do Levels 1, 2, and 3 mean? Who do I trust?
Level 1 is Be Ready. Level 2 is Be Set. Level 3 is Go Now, so leave right away.
Your county sets the levels. Some alerts go to every phone in a wide area, visitors included. Check whether your zone is listed. Apps and Facebook are handy for maps. For leaving, your county has the final word.
Sign up for county alertsOregon’s evacuation levels (opens in a new tab)
Why set fires on purpose? Do they just let fires burn?
A few smoky mornings in spring and fall beat a whole summer of smoke. Planned burns clear out the brush big fires feed on. Crews only light them in the right weather.
Nobody just lets fires burn. Every fire gets a plan. Sometimes the safe move is fighting from roads and ridges. Sometimes crews keep a remote lightning fire inside lines to clear overgrown forest.
Get burn alerts. Text COFIRE to 888-777.
Where to get good information
Alerts, fire news, live maps, air quality, and roads. One tap each.
County emergency alerts
Sign up for alerts where you live.
What’s happening
Wildfire and preparedness events across Oregon.
County emergency info
Evacuations, updates, and ways to prepare, straight from your county.