FOREST GROVE, Ore. - Due to extreme heat and dry conditions, on Monday, July 16 the Oregon Department of Forestry will raise to Level 2 the fire precautions industrial operators must follow in forestlands the agency protects in northwest Oregon. The affected areas are Clatsop and Columbia counties, Tillamook County except for a narrow strip along the coast, as well as northwest Yamhill County, western Washington County and a sliver of northwest Multnomah County.

Under the rules, the following activities are not permitted between 1 and 8 p.m.

• Cable yarding
• Blasting
• Welding, cutting or grinding of metal
• Use of feller-bunchers with rotary head saws
• Power saws may operate only at loading sites

The fire danger in ODF's entire Northwest Oregon Area is considered moderate. The use of off-road recreational vehicles in rural areas is prohibited and campfires are only allowed in designated campgrounds with built in, metal-ringed fire pits.

"After a nearly rainless May and June we are seeing conditions in northwest Oregon similar to what we typically would see at the beginning of August - very dry with low fuel moisture," said Protection Unit Forester Eric Perkins with ODF's Forest Grove office. "With prolonged warm, dry weather expected to continue at least through next week, it's important that people are very careful with any possible source of ignition."

Perkins said restriction on the public include common-sense precautions, such as:

• No debris burning
• No campfires except in designated campgrounds (portable cooking stoves using liquid fuels are okay)
• No wood-burning devices in temporary dwellings such as tents, travel trailers, etc.
• No power saw use or cutting, welding or grinding between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m.
• No fireworks
• Smoking only in designated locations or inside vehicles on improved roads or in boats on the water
• No exploding targets, tracer ammunition or sky lanterns

In addtion, all vehicles traveling off paved roads must have a shovel and fire extinguisher or a gallon of water. All-terrain vehicles and motorcycles must carry a fire extinguisher when traveling off paved roads.

For updates on fire restrictions, the public may contact the nearest ODF office or the state fire restrictions and closures web page at https://gisapps.odf.oregon.gov/firerestrictions/PFR.html