La Pine Fire District conducting structural assessments
La Pine firefighters, in uniform and in a fire district vehicle, will be visiting homes and properties within the fire district this summer. The purpose is to pre-plan and collect critical data for firefighters to use when protecting homes from a wildfire.
This is a continuation of a multi-year project started last year. The fire district was awarded a small grant to employ student firefighters for this summer project supporting the National Wildland Fire Decision Support System.
This is an extension of the Klamath County’s pilot project which is creating the new system. It is linked with current Federal, State and County data bases.
Firefighters and incident managers, regardless where they are from will have accurate data on the challenges they face and best apply resources to protect homes the during critical phases of a complex wildfire incident using computer systems and even hand held technology.
Firefighters can collect all data visually from the driveway and participation is not required by the resident. However, firefighters may knock on the door to alert residents they are in the area and to what they are doing and will be happy to answer any questions.
The Fire District is appreciative of each property owner for their effort to maintain their properties in a FireWise and FireFree safe condition. This activity is just one more effort to ensure we all survive the next wildfire in Central Oregon.
