Oregon facing driest wildfire conditions in 25 years

Oregon’s record-low snowpack and dry spring have fire officials concerned about drought and the potential for the driest summer wildfire conditions in 25 years.

May is Oregon Wildfire Awareness Month, and the Oregon Department of Forestry, Keep Oregon Green, the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal, and fire educators statewide are spreading the word on ways to help prevent human-caused wildfires, as well as how to protect a home in the event a fire encroaches.

“In a large fire event, firefighters may not have the capacity or resources to defend every home. Just as you lock the doors to keep your home and family safe, think of creating a fuel-free defensible space around your home to reduce fire danger and provide safe access to firefighters so they can protect it,” said Kristin Babbs, president of the Keep Oregon Green Association.

The true culprits are a wildfire’s hot embers. They can travel through the air, a mile or more ahead of a wildfire, and come to rest in the leaf debris on the roof or in flammable plants in the landscaping where they eventually smolder and ignite. “You can’t control where these embers land, but you can control what happens when they do.”

CLEAN
The best place to start is with the house and the first 30 feet that extends from the outermost part of the house, including detached garages and sheds. The roof is the most vulnerable part of the home. Regularly clear leaves or needles from the roof and gutters, and cut back tree limbs that overhang the roof.

CLEAR
Remove any combustible natural or human debris, such as leaves, branches, and gas or paint cans that tend to collect near the home, under stairs, decks, and porches. Also important: Relocate firewood at least 30 feet from the home or store it in an enclosed shed.

LANDSCAPE
Landscaping should contain low-growing, fire-resistant plants that are spaced carefully so as not to lead a fire to the home. Rake leaves and debris from the yard, mow grass, prune trees six to 10 feet up from the ground, and keep plants well watered to prevent a surface fire from climbing into the crowns and carrying flames from trees to the house. Properly placed deciduous trees can actually protect a home by blocking a wildfire’s intense heat.

Fuel breaks, such as driveways, gravel walkways, and green lawns can stop the advance of a fire by starving it of flammable vegetation.

In the zone 100 to 200 feet from the home, trees may need to be thinned, though less intensively than those closer in, so canopies are not touching.

Wildfire does not have to consume everything in its path. The more a homeowner can accomplish before fire season, the more it will improve a home’s chances of surviving a wildfire.

“It’s peace of mind knowing that if you leave your home for a stretch of time, it will still be standing when you return,” Babbs said.

More tips on how to create defensible space around your home and protect it from wildfire can be found at: http://www.keeporegongreen.org/