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Defensible Space Code Mtgs In Central Oregon

BEND, OR -- Oregon’s Office of State Fire Marshal will host a series of meetings in Central Oregon next week to discuss defensible space code. Allison Green says the agency was given a number of duties through SB 762, "One of them, which is why we’re visiting Central Oregon next week, is around developing a minimum defensible space standard and language that then we can use statewide."

The code will eventually be applied to properties deemed at high or extreme wildfire risk based on the map created by the Department of Forestry and OSU. ODF pulled down that map last week so it could be re-tooled. But Green says they don’t need a map to develop language, just for eventual rollout and application of the code. "We have to have that language done by the end of this year, which is why now we’re going out to Oregon to hear from folks. What are your concerns around defensible space? What do folks do in their yards, in their spaces that works? And what can we capture and add into the code to make sure that it works for as many Oregonians as possible?"

She tells KBND News, "We want to hear from folks on what’s working, what are the concerns, what can we address? Before we have the language finalized and adopted that doesn’t reflect the folks that we serve." Green adds, "We’re preaching to the choir that is Central Oregon, right? Folks in Central Oregon have been working on wildfire and wildfire risk things for going on almost 30 years, at this point. So, when we talk defensible space, we may learn a lot of things from Central Oregon. Folks are experts in their own property."

In the meetings they've held elsewhere, Green says they heard concerns from farmers and ranchers in areas that might be considered at high or extreme risk for wildfires, which would trigger potential future code enforcement, "We have folks here that have irrigated croplands. They have certain agricultural uses, and so folks were like, ‘Am I going to have to cut down my alfalfa field?’ All of agricultural lands are going to be considered exempt."

OSFM hopes to have draft language by October and will take more feedback at that point. SB 762 dictates the code must be finalized in December. Oregon is only the second state in the country to have such a code; California was the first. The agency plans a total of 17 public meetings around the state, five in Central Oregon: 

  • August 16 at 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., Sunriver, Three Rivers School Gym, 56900 Enterprise Drive 
  • August 16 at 5:30 – 7 p.m., Bend, Sky View Middle School Cafeteria, 63555 NE 18th Street 
  • August 17 at 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., Sisters, Sisters Community Room, Sisters Fire, 301 S Elm Street 
  • August 17 at 5:30 – 7 p.m., Prineville, Crook County High School Auditorium, 1100 SE Lynn Blvd 
  • August 18 at 5:30 – 7 p.m., Madras, Madras Performing Arts, 412 SE Buff Street  

For a full schedule, visit the Oregon Defensible Space Code webpage. 

The OSFM has a section on its website dedicated to the defensible space code development process. To learn more:  defensible space code requirements. 

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