Never mind the calendar.

Summer has arrived in Northeast Oregon.

The hot, dry weather that followed a cool, rainy start to the first week of June will increase the risk of wildfire.

The tall grass nourished by periodic rain and generally moderate temperatures this spring will continue to cure and become receptive to any spark.

Lingering snowdrifts will melt.

We are powerless against lightning, which in most years ignites more than half the wildfires in our region.

But we can prevent most human-caused fires.

Some precautions are obvious.

Don’t toss cigarettes.

Heed Smokey Bear’s venerable advice and make sure campfires are cold before you leave.

Fireworks are prohibited on national forests and other public land.

But other common causes of wildfires aren’t so clear.

A safety chain that connects a tow vehicle to a trailer, if allowed to dangle, can drag on the pavement and spawn a shower of sparks. That easily remedied problem has started several fires along Interstate 84 over the past decade or so.

We also need to be careful when driving or riding ATVs on forest roads and trails. ATVs are required to have an approved spark arrestor, as are chain saws.

We don’t yet know how severe the fire danger will be this summer.

If the current weather pattern persists, the risk could be significant.

But fire risk does not mean fires are inevitable.

Fire managers say they worry about human-caused fires because, unlike lightning, which is tracked by sophisticated detectors that produce detailed, near real time maps of where bolts hit, helping fire managers assign crews to places where fires are likely, we lack the ability to monitor human-sparked blazes with any precision.

These fires can, as the cliché goes, come from a clear blue sky.

But by taking simple steps to avoid these fires, we can help the local, state and national firefighting crews concentrate on blazes started by lightning.