C.O. officials gear up for upcoming fire season

It may be the midst of winter, but local fire officials are gearing up for fire season.

The Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire, or CPAW, is a group that has been brought in to take a look at the Sisters community and help it prepare for fire season in the next few months.

Sisters is one of eight communities that was selected by CPAW to help the town reduce fire risks.

Tuesday was the kick-off meeting for the group, to get a feel for what problems the community would like to see addressed when it comes to fires.

Molly Mowery, the lead on this CPAW project, said the main goal is to minimize the impact a possible fire might have on a community.

“Fires aren’t always a bad thing,” Mowery said. “However, we want to avoid losses to the community. So we really talk about and focus on ways that the community can prepare for fire.”

The CPAW group will provide a team of land use planners, foresters, researchers and policy analysts.

The hope is to create a final recommendation for stakeholders in the Sisters area to provide fire support heading into the next fire season.

Meanwhile, Deschutes County Rural Fire Protection District No. 2 is offering a grant that will help residents clean up and remove potential wildfire fuels.

The FireFree grant grew out of the destructive 1990 Awbrey Hall Fire to encourage people to clean up dead grass, trees and branches.

Bend Fire Department Battalion Chief Dave Howe said the grant encourages neighborhoods to come together to clean up debris that could cause a lot of issues for firefighters this summer.

“When we have a big wildland fire, it not only affects the people where it is burning,” Howe said. “But it can send up brands and starts spotting the fire downwind, a half-mile or so.” And so, such clean-up efforts protect a large part of the community.”

Howe added that this is the perfect time to start clearing debris from your property.

He said that when things begin to warm up and dry up, it is too late. The grant can be applied for at any time of the year.

More information and a grant application is at: http://bendruralfire.com/Content/Details/53