Crossroads adds burning restrictions

One property owners’ association in the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District has added additional outdoor burning restrictions under its own authority after recent changes in the fire district’s outdoor burning standards.

The Crossroads Property Owners Association’s Board of Directors unanimously approved tightening outdoor burning restrictions at a special board meeting held in late April.

Effective immediately, no recreational campfire are permitted in the forest subdivision after dark. In addition, once the Oregon State Forester declares open burning season closed in the Sisters area, no recreational campfires or outdoor burn barrel fires will be permitted.

The new restrictions have been announced to all owners and residents in the association’s newsletter. New informational signs will help remind residents of the change. In addition, the Crossroads Orientation Guide will have updated information.

“None of the Crossroads directors felt comfortable with the fire district permitting campfires after dark at any time, especially on their ‘no-burn days’ until weather conditions became critical,” said Luann Danforth, Crossroads board chair. “We live in a total fuel environment and even with all of the great fuels reduction work done by individual property owners and the association, we still were very concerned about the potential impact of those standards.”

Crossroads is a 240-acre forest subdivision located three miles west of Sisters off Highway 242. The area has about 175 residences. Since 1975, Crossroads has been a leader in forest subdivision wildfire prevention. Their efforts have been described in several national publications and featured at wildfire prevention seminars.

“For five years when the Oregon Department of Forestry was issuing outdoor burning permits, Crossroads used its authority to ban outdoor burning during the fire season and the department appreciated that,” Danforth explained. “When the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District assumed responsibility for issuing burning permits all year long, the association backed off and let the district do that job.”

In the past 31 years, the area has experienced 11 outdoor fires, five from escaped debris burning before the fire season, four from children playing with fire, one from “spontaneous combustion” and only one by illegal summertime burning by a new renter, Danforth added.

“We have too many new permanent residents, full-time renters, and now even short-term renters that are not used to the fire hazards we face here to get lax now after all this time,” Danforth said. “We have no central water system or fire station here. In addition, it would be human nature to fuel campfires with woody debris and needles that create air-born sparks, rather than clean firewood.”