Central Oregon Wildfire Information
- Central Oregon Fire Info
- Wildfire Evacuation Guide
- Wildfire Evacuation Checklist
- Oregon Department of Forestry Central Oregon
- Central Oregon Emergency Information Network
- Deschutes County Emergency Information
- PurpleAir Air Quality
Coronavirus Information
Prescribed Fire Adjacent To Sunriver, DRRH 1-5 & 9, River Meadows
Firefighters on the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District plan to implement 2,700 acres of prescribed fire within the wildland-urban interface adjacent to Sunriver. Fire managers are implementing the understory burns to reduce hazardous fuels accumulation decreasing the risk of high-intensity wildfire in the area. Ignitions could start as soon as next week and will intermittently occur over the next four to six weeks as conditions allow. The Sunriver area prescribed fire units include 700 acres adjacent to Cottonwood Road between Highway 97 and Sunriver, 1,000 acres south of Anne’s Butte and west of the Three Rivers subdivision, and 1,300 acres east of Highway 97 and south of Lava River Cave. Each area will consist of three to four days of ignitions.
Assessing Structural Ignition Potential From Wildfire
Wildfire Awareness Month Webinars
Wildfire Risk Reduction Webinar
The Office of State Fire Marshal produced a great webinar focused on preparing your home against wildfire. Click here to view the webinar recording.
Fire Adapted Oregon
As a result of the priorities in Senate Bill 762 and to better meet the needs and assist Oregonians, the Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) created Fire Adapted Oregon. This initiative utilizes an integrated and strategic investment of resources to reduce fires and its impact on the public. Fire Adapted Oregon is grounded in statewide data, science, new defensible space codes, and trends.
2022 Spring FireFree Event
Oregon Department of Forestry Assistance for Defensible Space Projects in DRRH 1-5 & 9 Communities
Oregon Department of Forestry’s Central Oregon District is accepting applications from landowners in DRRH 1-5 & 9 communities interested in completing fuel reduction projects around their homes. Specific treatments within these project areas which are eligible for cost-share incentives include thinning of overstocked and diseased juniper and pine stands, pruning limbs on residual trees, mastication of brush and small trees, and chipping materials or burning piles onsite to remove the excess woody debris. Landowners must provide a 25% match for work completed. This match can come through in-kind labor (work performed by the landowner). Historically underserved populations, including elderly and lower income applicants, will receive priority consideration for their applications. Additionally, Oregon Department of Forestry will be providing chipping opportunities for all landowners in these communities.
Landowners who are interested in applying for cost-share for fuel reduction on their property or who would like to having chipping work completed to dispose of vegetative materials can visit https://odfcentraloregongrantinformation.blogspot.com/ for more information or contact Ross Huffman (541-549-2731).
UDRC 2021 Programs Review
The Defensible Space Reimbursement program paid $61,590 to 122 applicants. The Low-income Senior program paid $1,500 to fuels reduction contractors for 2 applicants.
85 Reimbursements to UDRC Communities
37 Reimbursements to La Pine Area Communities
We continue to offer defensible space assistance to low-income Seniors from the Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund. We extended our popular Defensible Space Reimbursement program to the La Pine area. The Reimbursement program is funded by grants from the MCM Fund, BNSF Railway Foundation, and First Interstate Bank Foundation.
We received a three-year $90,000 grant from the MCM Fund to continue funding the Reimbursement program. This funding complements recent grants from the BNSF Foundation and First Interstate Bank. We reopened the Reimbursement program for new applications in January, 2022.
We hope to start quarterly public meetings at the Sunriver Area Library depending on COVID restrictions. We welcome the help of anyone who would like to volunteer to help schedule and run the meetings. To help with our operating expenses, please consider a tax-deductible donation to the UDRC.
UDRC Defensible Space Reimbursement Program
The Defensible Space Reimbursement Program is closed for new applications until more grant funds are available in 2023.
The intention of this program is to offer an incentive to South Deschutes County property owners. Creating defensible space will not only mitigate your wildfire risk, but help our communities become more fire adapted. Grant funds are available to help property owners within the La Pine Rural Fire Protection District with the cost of creating or maintaining defensible space for wildfire risk reduction. The UDRC will reimburse your expenses for licensed fuels reduction contractors or rental equipment up to $500 maximum. The UDRC will not reimburse work completed before your application is approved. The UDRC has limited funds to assist as many property owners as possible. If you received reimbursement this year we will not accept future applications. Before beginning your fuels reduction project, click here for the online application form with instructions.
UDRC Low-income Senior or Disabled Defensible Space Program
The intention of this program is to offer assistance to property owners who cannot do the work themselves, or afford to hire someone else to do the work. UDRC has partnered with Council on Aging of Central Oregon to provide free wildfire fuels reduction services for low-income senior or disabled homeowners in the La Pine Rural Fire Protection District. Click herefor a printable flyer describing the program. To apply for the Senior Low-income Defensible Space program, click here for the mail in application form with age and income requirements or call Council on Aging at 541-678-5483 to request the application form. Applicants for the Low-income Senior Program may not apply for the Reimbursement program in the same year.
OSU Lecture Series Lookout: Envisioning Futures with Wildfire
In the 11-week lecture series, we’ve invited speakers who offer perspectives from across the arts, humanities, and environmental sciences to think about questions like: What can we learn about transformation from fire’s destructive and creative force? How should we live differently, both with each other and on the planet, in this era of wildfires? How can we honor fire as an ancient, rejuvenating element while also honoring all that has been lost to wildfire? To view the webinar recordings, click on Lookout: Envisioning Futures with Wildfire
My Personal Wildland Fire Action Guide
Proactive mitigation around your property and safe and early evacuation can help protect you, your household, and your property. This Action Guide provides tips and tools you need to prepare for wildland fire threat, gain situational awareness when a fire starts, and act early as directed by local officials. Click here to view the guide. This publication was prepared by the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Ready, Set, Go! Program.
Reporting Graffiti or Illegal Dump Sites
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office inmate work crews have been actively involved in the community by removing graffiti and cleaning up large collections of litter from property throughout Deschutes County. Click here to report graffiti or illegal dump sites in Deschutes County.
USFS Klone Vegetation Management Project
The Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District released a draft environmental assessment for the nearly 35,000-acre Klone Vegetation Management Project south of Bend for a 30-day public comment period. The 34,636-acre planning area is located south of Bend and east of Sunriver. About 10,550 acres on the west side of the planning area are within the wildland urban interface designated by the Upper Deschutes River Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The east side of the planning area borders Newberry National Volcanic Monument.
The purpose of the project is to improve forest resilience against uncharacteristically large disturbance events such as wildfire, insects, and disease through treatments such as thinning and fuels reduction. The project proposes to manage vegetation through silviculture techniques and prescribed fire, and to restore areas through road closures. The Forest Service’s environment assessment can be accessed on the Deschutes National Forest project website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=57735.
Comments may be submitted electronically to comments-pacificnorthwest-deschutes-bend-ftrock@usda.gov. Please put “Klone” in the subject line of your email. Comments must be submitted as part of the actual e-mail message, or as an attachment in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx), rich text format (.rtf), or portable document format (.pdf) only.
OSU Extension Webinars
Webinars are brought to you by the Forestry & Natural Resources Extension Fire Program with support from partnering agencies and organizations. Register for ALL Fire Aware. Fire Prepared. webinars here: https://beav.es/UgJ Click on resource packet that covers all spring Fire Aware. Fire Prepared. webinar topics. Webinar records are available.
USFS 42 Road Wildfire Resilience Project
The Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District is initiating an environmental analysis for the 42 Road GNA Wildfire Resilience Project located on the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest. The project area is west of La Pine State Park near Fall River Hatchery and Wake Butte. Click here to view the Scoping Letter. For additional questions, please contact Alicia Underhill, Environmental Coordinator, by email at alicia.underhill@usda.gov or by phone at 541-383-4012.
Wildfire Home Retrofit Guide
This guide includes specific recommendations for how to retrofit existing components of a home to withstand wildfire. Each section contains an explanation of how the component is vulnerable to wildfire and what can be done to improve that component. The illustrations throughout the Guide are intended to show best practices for reducing the vulnerability of a home to wildfire. Click here to view the guide.
UDRC Defensible Space Program Featured In Midstate Electric Ruralite Article
The organization’s goal is to lessen the impact of wildfires on people’s lives and lifestyles, on their properties and structures, and on the natural resources of the area, including water, trees and wildlife habitat. “Fires can have a serious impact on communities,” says Jerry Hubbard, president of UDRC and a board member of the La Pine Rural Fire Protection District. “There’s been a positive response to the UDRC program. It’s a good incentive to get people to clean up their property.” Click here to read the article.
New Brochure Available From Project Wildfire
Project Wildfire recently completed a brochure for handouts to reach the average resident. The new tri-fold is available for pick-up from the Project Wildfire office at 61150 SE 27th St., Bend and a printer friendly version is available on the web. Click here for a printable brochure. Email boone.zimmerlee@deschutes.org to request copies for your network or community.
Wildfire Home Protection Strategies Workshop
Project Wildfire presents a Wildfire Home Protection Strategies class based on fire science research into how homes and other structures ignite during wildfires as well as information on wildfire behavior, structure exposure, and the concepts of defensible space. You will learn how to analyze wildfire risks to structures, provide actionable advice to property owners, and how to take action in your community. Click here to watch the video.
Firewise Communities Story Map
Deschutes County Project Wildfire has been working on a Story Map that focuses on the communities in Deschutes County that are either already a Firewise recognized site or interested in recognition. Through this story map we highlight the work communities have done, provide examples of projects, along with resources for new communities interested in becoming recognized.
Within the Story Map you will find an interactive map of past fires within Deschutes County along with a map of Firewise Recognized sites with a preview of the community, past projects, and contact info. In the “Becoming Firewise” portion of the Story Map you will find resources to help plan community projects and a checklist to assist new communities in navigating the process of becoming recognized. Click here to view the Story Map.
Three Rivers Area Wildfire Risk Report
This report from Headwaters Economics presents data about wildfire risk, socioeconomic vulnerability, and land use to help communities understand their relative wildfire risk profile. It was created through a partnership between Headwaters Economics and the U.S. Forest Service through the Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire program using data from Wildfire Risk to Communities. Click here to view the report.
NFPA Course: Understanding the Wildfire Threat to Homes
This online learning module is an overview of fire history, fire basics, and how homes burn. It’s an excellent resource for residents and other stakeholders that are pursuing knowledge on the basics of how wildfires ignite homes and the actions that can be implemented to make homes safer. Click here for more information.
Firewise Workshops – A Community Approach
We have recently completed a 3 part workshop covering Firewise Basics, Outreach Strategies and Community Project Planning. These workshops were held online with guest speakers including subject matter experts from our local communities and agencies throughout Deschutes County. The purpose of these workshops were to make connections across Firewise sites, share ideas and lessons learned. As an outcome of these workshops a network of support and resources were created to help Firewise sites succeed in their efforts. Click here to view the workshop videos and resources.