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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2019)
16 Wednesday, March 20, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Preparing for wildfire season in Sisters While Sisters-area resi- dents were shoveling snow, staff with the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District were busy preparing for another wildfire season. With summer just a few months away, several projects are nearing completion which the fire district believes will improve the safety of area residents. Projects include enhancing partnerships with Firewise communities, increasing community pre- paredness for evacuations, advocating for enhanced building codes and improving the burn-permitting process. Fire Chief Roger Johnson said, <We are seeing a grow- ing fire problem across Oregon and the entire West Coast. We want to make sure our agency and the commu- nity are prepared for changing conditions.= While the Sisters area didn9t experience a signifi- cant fire like Milli or Pole Creek last season, it did have several smaller fires that chal- lenged responders. The Rabbit Brush Fire in the Cloverdale community destroyed two homes and several outbuild- ings before being controlled. Fires at Warm Springs, and the Graham Fire at Lake Billy Chinook also required activa- tion of regional task forces to control the fires. In addition to regional fires, the District participated in two statewide mobilizations. One mobiliza- tion was for the Substation Fire in The Dalles and the District also sent personnel and equipment to the Camp Fire in California (Paradise). The Camp Fire was California9s most devastating wildfire in history, destroying 18,800 buildings and killing 85 people. The Camp Fire has impacted the way fire officials across the country are viewing the growing fire problem, and those impacts are being felt in Sisters. <We told our personnel as they deployed to Paradise, view the fire through the lens of Sisters,= Chief Johnson said. <We wanted to know, where can we improve?= The Fire District is focus- ing its efforts on prevention, community preparedness and education. Even in California where there is an abundance of firefighters, fire engines and aircraft, entire communi- ties are still being destroyed by wildfire. The Fire District is supporting efforts to require new homes to be built with more fire-resistant construc- tion. The Oregon Residential Specialty Code (building code) now allows communi- ties to adopt a stricter building standard in high-risk areas. New standards require non-combustible siding, non-flammable roofing and smaller ventilation open- ings. Recent studies have determined that most homes destroyed by wildland fires are ignited by flying embers. Reducing a home9s vulner- ability to ember intrusion will save homes and businesses during a wildfire. The Fire District is also planning two community events in Sisters this spring. In April there will be a meet- ing for all Firewise communi- ties and homeowners associa- tions that may be interested in becoming a Firewise com- munity. Firewise is a program initiated by the National Fire Protection Association that teaches people how to adapt to living with wildfire and encourages neighbors to work together to prevent losses from wildfire. The Fire District would like every neighborhood in Sisters and Camp Sherman to become a Firewise com- munity. Also during the April meeting participants will receive information about the coming fire season and strat- egies to make homes in their community more resilient in the face of wildfire. In May, the Fire District is hosting a community pre- paredness day where residents will be asked to evaluate their home and make sure they are ready for the coming fire sea- son. Residents will be asked to evaluate their home for vulnerabilities. Residents will also be asked to learn where the evacuation routes for their neighborhoods are. During a fire, the Deschutes County Sheriff9s Office will implement any needed evacuations. Normally, residents will be directed to evacuate their neighborhood on the main access roads they use every day. In some cases they may be directed to use an alternate road. The best time to become familiar with alternate evacu- ation routes is before the fire starts. Residents will also be encouraged to register their cell phone with the Deschutes County Sheriff9s Office. By registering cell phone num- bers, residents will receive emergency notifications wher- ever they are. To register your cell phone go to https://www. deschutes.org/911/page/sign- deschutes-emergency-alerts. The Fire District is also introducing a new burn-per- mitting system. The permit- ting system will remain free, but will have a web-based feature that will allow resi- dents to text if they want to burn. Once the Fire District receives the text, the program will instantly respond, letting the user know if it is a burn day or not. The program will also capture the location of the burn, which will allow firefighters to know on a daily basis where fires are burn- ing. The new system will also allow the Fire District to send notifications to users of the system. The Fire District hopes to have the system online by May 1. Residents are reminded that the City of Sisters does not allow burning of brush and debris within city limits. 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