Community fire plan meetings scheduled

Local fire districts preparing a Greater Sisters Community Wildfire Protection Plan have announced four community meetings to present an overview of the project plan and to receive suggestions from local residents.

Meeting dates and times are:

• October 28, 6 to 8 p.m., Sisters and Environs Community Meeting, Sisters Fire Station, 301 S. Elm St., Sisters.
• November 3, 2 to 4 p.m., Black Butte Ranch Community Meeting, Black Butte Ranch Fire Station, 13511 Hawks Beard, Back Butte Ranch.
• November 3, 6 to 8 p.m., Cloverdale Community Meeting, Cloverdale Fire Station, 68787 George Cyrus Rd., Sisters.
• November 16, 7 to 9 p.m., Sisters and Crossroads Communities Meeting, Sisters Fire Station, 301 S. Elm St., Sisters.

While Sisters area residents may attend any of the four meetings, the October 28 meeting is being held primarily for residents of the City of Sisters, the Tollgate subdivision and other nearby subdivisions in the Indian Ford and Camp Polk areas.

Those not able to attend this meeting are encouraged to attend the November 16 meeting, according to Fire Chief Taylor Robertson of the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District.

Purposes of the meetings are to provide residents with an overview of the wildfire plan, allow residents to identify places they most want protected from wildfire and to hear any concerns on what the fire plan should address.

Goals of the project are to reduce the risk of wildfire, to increase the community's ability to respond to wildfires if they do occur and to help the community obtain grants to support these efforts.

Work started on the plan last April and it should be completed by April of 2005. Other agencies participating are the Sisters Ranger District of the Forest Service, Oregon Department of Forestry, Jefferson County Emergency Services and the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office -- Emergency Services.

Marcus Kauffman of the Watershed Research and Training Center at the University of Oregon is the project manager and the facilitator for the planning group.

The Bureau of Land Management provided an initial grant of $69,550 through the National Fire Plan for the preparation of the Sisters area plan.

For more information on the community meetings contact Chief Taylor Robertson at the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District, 549-0771; Capt. Brett Smith at the Black Butte Ranch Rural Fire District, 595-2288; or Chief Chuck Cable, Cloverdale Rural Fire District, 548-4815.