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Essentially a fuel break between your home and the surrounding land, you can create defensible space through several strategies, some of which are shown above.
Essentially a fuel break between your home and the surrounding land, you can create defensible space through several strategies, some of which are shown above.
THE GORGE — Following a record-breaking wildfire season, the Oregon State Fire Marshal (OSFM) will reward more property owners for creating defensible space around their homes. Local eligible communities include Cascade Locks, Chenoweth, Dufur, Mosier, Odell, Mt. Hood-Parkdale, Pine Grove, Pine Hollow, Rowena, The Dalles, Tygh Valley and Wamic.
“Oregonians are familiar with the concept of defensible space. They’ve lived with fire. They know it’s always been here,” said Chad Hawkins, assistant chief deputy for OSFM. Cultivating widespread community resilience, however, is a challenge. That’s why vulnerable residents can receive $250 after completing an assessment by OSFM or a participating fire agency.
By strategically removing fuels, defensible space can help prevent flames from encroaching and embers from igniting, even during intense wildfires. After walking around your property, an official will provide detailed recommendations on how to better protect your home, like limbing low-hanging branches and spacing trees at least 10 feet from structures.
A few weeks later, you’ll receive a gift card in the mail. To check your eligibility and sign up for an assessment, visit OSFM's website.
Established by Senate Bill 762, the comprehensive wildfire preparedness package passed in 2021, OSFM and other departments have completed more than 2,700 assessments since rolling out the program in June 2023, but funding is limited. The bill also directed Oregon’s Department of Forestry (ODF) to produce a statewide wildfire hazard map, which was finalized Jan. 7.
As identified on the map, people living in high hazard, wildland-urban interface areas must eventually comply with OSFM’s defensible space code and will receive an informational packet from ODF by mail, including an appeal form. OSFM bases its assessments entirely on the code, so get a head start while the reward is still available.
“Whenever the code is done, you’re going to meet the intent of the code anyway and you really have, from our perspective and the State Fire Marshal, have nothing to worry about,” said Hawkins. To appeal your hazard designation, submit the form to ODF by March 10. Visit ODF's website for more information.
Relatedly, applicable residents must also comply with home hardening regulations set by Oregon’s Building Codes Division. The codes don’t apply to existing homes, so no action is required unless you’re replacing a roof, installing an addition or constructing a new home. Visit the division's website for more details.
Both the defensible space and home hardening codes won’t go into effect until after appeals for the wildfire hazard maps are resolved.
OSFM acknowledges that creating defensible space is a financial burden, and oftentimes, $250 won’t completely cover the changes needed. Whatever you can do, however, gives firefighters a better chance during blazes.
“If [firefighters] have a good anchor point with a house that’s done some defensible space, they’re going to do whatever they can to make a stand. If they show up to a house that hasn’t done anything,” said Hawkins, “it might not even be survivable for them to fight the fire.”
And effective, low-cost strategies do exist: clearing tinder from your yard and gutters, installing screens on attic vents and below decks, moving wood piles away from your home, and incorporating fire-resistant plants into your landscaping. Since all fuel dies and regrows, consistent maintenance is the most important part.
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