BAKER CITY — The surge in COVID-19 cases has had minimal effects on state and federal agencies’ capacities to fight wildfires during a summer when extreme fire danger means these local crews’ efforts are vital in keeping small fires from becoming conflagrations.

With big blazes burning elsewhere in Oregon and in most other western states, much of the nation’s firefighting resources are already committed to existing fires.

As a result, local fire managers say, their standard goal of dousing fires as quickly as possibly is even more pressing, because if a fire in Northeastern Oregon grows rapidly, there’s no guarantee that large numbers of firefighters and aircraft would be readily available from other areas.

“Catching these fires in the initial attack stage is critical for us this year,” said Joel McCraw, fire management officer for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest’s Whitman Ranger District, which covers most of the southern half of the 2.4-million-acre forest. “If one got away it might take days to get significant help from outside our area.”

The Wallowa-Whitman has not completely avoided the recent rapid rise in COVID-19 infections that has affected counties around Eastern Oregon.

During the first 18 days of August, Union County recorded 398 cases — the highest total for any month during the pandemic. Wallowa County also reached its high point at 102 cases through August.

Peter Fargo, public information officer for the Wallowa-Whitman, said that of the approximately 140 firefighters on the forest who are tasked with “initial attack” — the first to arrive at a new blaze — four recently tested positive and six others have quarantined due to potential exposure.

“We currently have adequate resources for initial attack on the Forest, and we are ready to respond to new fire starts at the current pace,” Fargo said.

McCraw said firefighters are required to wear face masks when they’re inside buildings or in vehicles.

They don’t wear masks while fighting fires. The nature of fighting relatively small fires means firefighters usually aren’t too close to one another, so social distancing isn’t much of an issue, McCraw said.

Tracy Skerjanec, fire management officer for the Bureau of Land Management’s Vale District, which includes land the federal agency manages in Northeastern Oregon, said COVID-19 has not affected the district’s initial attack crews.

That’s also the case in Baker County for the Oregon Department of Forestry, said Steve Meyer, wildland fire supervisor at the state agency’s Baker City office.

Having a full complement of initial attack crews has been crucial, the fire officials say, in keeping the fire season in this area tranquil compared with the conflagrations that have scorched hundreds of thousands of acres elsewhere.

“We’ve had good response from our fire folks,” Skerjanec said.

The Wallowa-Whitman has handled 47 fires this year — 39 started by lightning, eight by people — that have burned a combined 1,831 acres.

More than a dozen individual fires have burned more acres in Oregon this summer.

The BLM has had four fires in and around Baker County, and a total of 5,754 acres burned, while the Oregon Department of Forestry has reported 10 fires and 28.5 acres burned.

(The BLM acreage figures are somewhat skewed as they include acres of BLM-managed land burned in two larger fires in Wallowa County, the 7,610-acre Joseph Canyon Fire, which started June 11, and the 23,000-acre Elbow Creek Fire, which started July 15.)

These comparatively modest figures are in spite of fire danger that has reached record levels at times during this unusually hot and dry summer.

Starting in late June with a record-setting heat wave, and continuing through most of July, the Energy Release Component (ERC) — a prediction of how much energy a fire would release based on the moisture level in various types of fuels, ranging from twigs to down logs — was at or near all-time highs.

Widespread rain on the first day of August pushed the ERC below average for several days. They jumped back to near or above record levels during the hot weather last week and are running at about average this week due to cooler temperatures.

But the fire danger remains high, with bans on campfires, chain saw use and other activities remaining in effect across the region.

No surplus of firefighting resources

Nathan Goodrich, deputy fire staff officer for operations on the Wallowa-Whitman, said it was obvious as early as June that fires in 2021 would generally require more firefighters on initial attack to ensure the flames didn’t get away.

Even a small blaze, which in a normal summer could be handled by a four-person crew, has this summer required about twice as many firefighters, he said.

That means any factor that would reduce initial attack resources — including, potentially, COVID-19 — poses a greater danger than usual.

Indeed, when a series of lightning storms ignited more than a dozen fires in Northeastern Oregon in early August, the Wallowa-Whitman’s initial attack resources were completely engaged, McCraw said.

At that point, he said, if even one additional fire had started, there might not have been any crews available to fight it immediately.

And when the fire danger is as severe as it has been for much of this summer, just a few hours can be enough time for a smoldering fire to erupt into an inferno, Goodrich said.

“If you don’t get to them, they’re gone, essentially, especially down in the canyons,” he said.

Less lightning, more rain

Skerjanec said a combination of factors — including, he concedes, elements of luck — have contributed to the success that initial attack crews have had in keeping the vast majority of fires from burning more than a few acres.

“Most fires we’ve been able to catch fast without needing outside resources,” he said.

With the exception of the early August storms, lightning has been relatively scarce, Skerjanec said.

“Dry” lightning — thunderstorms that have lightning bolts but no rain to quell any fires ignited — have been even more rare.

“Most of the storms that have come through our area have had some moisture with them,” Skerjanec said. “That rain has either put the fires out or slowed them down and let us catch them.”