Wednesday, June 24, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
5
Vision partners prepare for fire season Sisters salutes…
By Janel Ruehl
Correspondent
A large portion of the
<Resiliency= focus area of
the Sisters Country Vision is
focused on fire danger, pre-
paredness, and mitigation
strategies. As Sisters Country
gears up for an unusual
fire season in the midst of
COVID-19, vision partners
are also celebrating the prog-
ress made over the past year
on several of these strategies.
Preparing for fire season
looks notably different this
year. In Sisters Country, five
separate agencies respond
to wildfire incidents: USFS,
ODF, and the local fire
districts of Sisters-Camp
Sherman, Black Butte Ranch,
and Cloverdale. These agen-
cies are closely collaborat-
ing to decide on operational
policies this year. Most wild-
land fire refresher training
was completed online due to
COVID-19. In fire camps,
a new model will be tested
this year. Called <Module as
One,= units will work, eat,
sleep and travel together like
a family, greatly reducing the
number of other fire person-
nel they come in contact with.
<Efforts will be taken to
not mix crews from differ-
ent agencies or units to limit
spread of the virus if some-
one becomes sick,= said
Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire
Chief Roger Johnson. Fire
camps will require expanded
check-in procedures that
include medical evaluations
for all personnel. Where pos-
sible, fire management staff
may work remotely instead
of being onsite and all-staff
briefings are likely to occur
virtually or in small groups.
In addition to these new
health precautions, the Pacific
Northwest Region of the
USFS suspended spring pre-
scribed burning this year due
to COVID-related factors.
However, District Ranger Ian
Reid estimates the overall
impact of this decision is rela-
tively small.
<In the big picture, the
agency and its partners have
done significant work over
the last several decades to
increase fire resiliency and
reduce wildfire risk around
Sisters. We are actively
assessing our fall prescribed
burning program and have not
yet made a decision what that
will look like,= says Reid.
Community groups have
stepped up preparedness
this year. The Tollgate HOA
received a grant to remove
about 20 dead trees from
common areas. Several board
members and their families
spent 80 hours raking and
removing 120 yards of pine
needles from the common
areas this spring.
<The virus has caused a lot
of people to get out and get
engaged in cleaning up their
properties,= said Tollgate
HOA Manager Leah Tolle.
Deschutes County was
the recipient of a grant from
the Department of Land
Conservation this year.
Among other goals, the grant
will fund public outreach to
collect feedback on the recom-
mendations of the County9s
Wildfire Mitigation Advisory
Committee (WMAC). This
ad-hoc committee met in late
2019 and early 2020 to review
and recommend potential
changes to land use and build-
ing codes that would support
wildfire mitigation strategies.
Although the project is on
hold due to COVID-19, the
county is reviewing options
to inform the public of the
WMAC9s recommendations
and receive comments on next
steps.
Sisters City Council has
already started to consider
how the city can incorporate
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recommendations into
local codes. At the May 13
meeting, council members
considered the following
recommendations:
" Spatially define the
wildland-urban interface and
adopt the advanced Oregon
Wildfire Risk Explorer.
" Update defensible space
requirements and adopt new
state building code.
" Update wildfire planning
goals and policies.
" Implement mitiga-
tion measures on critical
infrastructure.
This spring Deschutes
County also scored a big
win with a major expansion
of the Fire Free program,
which offers free disposal
of yard debris to encourage
residents to create and main-
tain defensible space around
their homes. In the past the
program was limited to a
single weekend. This year,
Fire Free was open from
May 9 to May 24. Project
Wildfire Coordinator Boone
Zimmerlee says the Fire
Free expansion doubled the
amount of debris collected.
In addition to Fire Free
and public education pro-
grams, Project Wildfire also
coordinates the Firewise
USA program in Deschutes
County. Two new communi-
ties achieved certification this
year: Indian Ford Ranch and
Sage Meadows. Zimmerlee
confirmed that Deschutes
County community action
grants will be available this
year.
For more information
visit: www.sisterscountry
vision.org, www.projectwild
fire.org, and www.deschutes.
org/wildfirecommittee.
DECK
RENOVATION
On Your To-Do List
Before Summer?
Rachel N. Smith wrote:
Driving home from my
café job, I passed a little
family standing with a sign
asking for help. They were
stranded travelers from
Texas and spoke very little
English. The previous day,
I had seen them in the same
placed and stopped to share
my tips on the way home. I
pulled in next to the veteri-
nary clinic to share again.
As I walked up, their
eyes brightened, three beau-
tiful girls and their parents.
The youngest sat on a bucket
looking miserably bored. I
found out they spoke Italian,
and were trying to make
their way home after a bro-
ken transmission cleaned
them out of $2,000. They
were trying to get help with
gas money and for a hotel
that night for a safe place to
rest. And, they said, in the
two days they stood there,
NOBODY had stopped but
me! All of a sudden, the
shared tips that seemed so
much to me seemed paltry.
Being a bit of an intro-
vert, I don9t know many
folks in community or
church circles that could
help. So I went to Fika, for
I knew the kindness that
Renee extends so gener-
ously might help me find
help for them. We stood
together scratching our
heads and not coming up
with any solutions right off,
but having faith we could
help somehow. As I turned
to leave, she reached into
her till and handed me sev-
eral bills for them. And we
agreed <There9s always
prayer!=
After that, I contacted the
police for help in connect-
ing to local resources and
started checking with local
hotels. The first was booked
to the gills. When I arrived
at the Sisters Inn and Suites,
the new managers Gary and
Hannah exchanged a glance
and immediately decided
to help. For a very minimal
amount, they said they could
help a stranded motorist and
found a room for them.
Deputy Brian Morse
called then with more leads
to follow, and came down to
meet the family when I went
back to share the great news.
When I lead them back to
the hotel, Niko (the father)
used most of his vocabu-
lary in an unbroken stream
of <Thank you! Thank you!
Thank you!=
But truly he was speak-
ing language of the heart.
Deputy Morse relayed
the message that he and
the Central Oregon Police
Chaplain would come back
in the morning and bring
them some help for gas
money.
As I drove home, I
thought about what this
showed me about our
community. In context
of police protests, Black
Lives Matter and animos-
ity towards immigrants and
people of color, this is what
it looks like. Four beauti-
ful brown women and a
good-hearted Italian speak-
ing man found their way
home into my heart that
day, along with the people
who stepped up to help. In
these chaotic times, we are
each other9s safety. United
we live. And there but for
the Grace of God go I.
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