14 Winter 2013 Applegater
Redefining ‘community’ in the Applegate
by SANDy SHAffeR
For the past three-plus years folks
across the country (including me) have
been working with federal, state and local
partners to develop a national Cohesive
Strategy for Wildfire Management.
Suppress all fires? Let them burn? Thin all
federal lands? Impose building restrictions
in rural areas? One solution alone doesn’t
work, weather patterns are constantly
changing, and the cost of fire suppression
nationally is unsustainable. Something has
to change.
The final Cohesive Strategy identified
three areas for regional or local areas to
address in order to reduce the severity of
fires, loss of life and property, and also
suppression costs. They are: fire-resilient
landscapes, appropriate wildfire response,
and fire-adapted communities. This last
is where you and I come into the picture.
A fire-adapted community (FAC)
has been simply defined as one where
“human populations and infrastructure
can withstand a wildfire without loss of
life and property.”
The basic premise is that through
a combination of knowledgeable and
coordinated pre-fire planning, preparedness
and action, coupled with evacuation plans
and appropriate fire response, the loss
of life and property due to a wildfire
can be prevented or minimized. The
“community” takes responsibility for its
wildfire risk.
Eleven potential components of an
FAC have been identified in the Cohesive
Strategy (but not all might be applicable
to every community). They are:
• Defensible space and/or a Firewise
community
• Fuel reduction efforts beyond the
defensible space
• Local building and development codes
for fire-safe homes
• Family and community evacuation plans
• Internal safety zones
• Exterior/community fuel buffers (to
help keep a wildfire from spreading to the
community)
• Forest management/fire-resilient forests
(to help prevent explosive crown fires that
kill trees and spread embers)
• Fire prevention and education efforts
• Local capacity to fight fire
• Local cooperative fire agreements
(mutual aid between agencies)
• Local Community Wildfire Protection
Plans, or CWPPs.
Some of you are probably asking if we
really need to address this FAC thing here
in the Applegate. After all, we already have
our CWPP, we do education and outreach,
we have mutual aid agreements and county
building codes in place, and, we’ve done a
good job on defensible space.
But think about our local dry climate,
the fact that most of us live in the wildland-
urban interface, and the majority of us in
the Applegate either abut or are within a
half mile of federal lands. Another factor
is that our “fire season” comes later in
the summer than in other regions, so it’s
not unusual for national fire suppression
resources to be tied up elsewhere when we
get our first lightning storm in June or July.
Throw in what’s happening financially at
the federal, state and local levels, and ask:
is wildfire preparedness really going to be
a priority? We definitely need to be able to
fend for ourselves!
So looking through those 11 items
again, the fire-adapted “community” is
more than a single property owner or
two, but it’s a lot more defined than, say,
the entire city of Williams. Definitely not
a whole county, even though something
like building codes might come under the
county’s jurisdiction.
Therefore, the leading question is:
how do we define “community”? Initially
I would think that long roads such as
Humbug or Thompson Creek could be
considered “communities,” but Fire Chief
Fillis says those are a bit too long and
should be broken up. Could Murphy be a
“community” under this type of definition?
Maybe, but Ruch might be too large. So
who should define where FACs are in the
Applegate? My answer would be residents,
local fire folks, community leaders, maybe
federal land managers, too—all working
together.
Our Applegate has long been
recognized as a leader in wildfire
preparedness, but now it’s time to push this
even further by becoming “fire-adapted.” I
urge you to take the next step and talk to
your neighbors, and maybe even your fire
chief about the components of this FAC
concept. Start to define your “community”
and see what you collectively can begin
to tackle. Let’s all work together, now, to
be fire-adapted before next fire season.
Because no one else is going to do it for us!
Sandy Shaffer • sassyoneor@q.com
Fuel-reduction assistance grants available for middle Applegate residents
by bRIAN bALLOU
Residential landowners in much of the
Applegate River Valley within Jackson County
(see map) are eligible for fuel-reduction assistance
grants from the Oregon Department of Forestry’s
(ODF) Medford Unit. A grant pays a property
owner $400 for creating a 100-foot fuel break
around a primary residence, and improving
driveway access for emergency vehicles. These
measures may help protect the home against
wildfire damage or destruction.
Financial assistance is also available for fuel-
reduction projects in strategic locations such as
roadsides and property lines, and areas where there
are fields of brush and thickets of trees.
To receive a grant, a property owner must
agree to meet fuel-reduction specifications
prescribed by an ODF fire prevention specialist.
In addition to establishing a fuel break around the
home and driveway, the property owner may be
required to move or enclose firewood or lumber
piles, remove flammable material from beneath
decks, and replace fire-vulnerable landscaping
plants with fire-resistant species.
Payment will be made upon completion of
the project and approval by ODF.
For more information, and to schedule a
free on-site fuel-reduction evaluation, contact the
Oregon Department of Forestry’s Medford Unit
office at 541-664-3328.
Brian Ballou
Fire Prevention Specialist
ODF Southwest Oregon District
541-665-0662
bballou@odf.state.or.us