News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Fire Chief Tay Robertson explains how firefighters vent a roof. Local personnel used this roof for training exercises.
The Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District is taking its training off the streets and onto a designated training area at the southern edge of Sisters.
The fire district acquired rights to use four acres of land adjacent to the city sewage treatment facility several years ago in a deal that provided the City of Sisters space for its recycling center. Now the city must request rezoning from Deschutes County, which holds jurisdiction over the property, to allow the training facility to move forward.
The city will go before a county hearings officer on August 19 to request a change from forest zoning to Urban Area Reserve.
For years, the fire district has conducted training drills on the street in front of the Sisters Fire Hall. That limits what they can do and poses safety concerns.
"We've really got to be in a training site somewhere that is confined and folks don't have access to it," said district training chief Ryan Karjala.
He said that, with a proper facility, firefighters will be able to concentrate on training rather than watching out for traffic.
The district is already conducting some training on the site: vehicle extrication; wildland fire hose-lays; and roof venting on a recovered section of roof.
But in order to maximize training value, the site will be paved over 1.5 to 2 acres and a fire hydrant and a drill tower will be installed. The drill tower will be three stories high and will be used for training in fighting blazes in multistory structures. There will also be a truck bay and a classroom area.
The site is located just to the south of the Buck Run and Coyote Springs subdivisions. The area is well-screened by trees, but fire district officials acknowledge concerns about impacts on the neighborhood.
"We're very sensitive to the neighbors' desire to preserve the natural back yard they have there," said Fire Chief Tay Robertson.
Robertson said the district will berm the area and screen it further to minimize any visual impact. The fact that both Robertson and Karjala live in the neighborhood makes their sensitivity all the more acute.
"I don't want to see it, and it's right in view of my house, too," Robertson said.
Karjala said that traffic will not be significantly increased and noted that, while there will be some flammable liquid fires set for performance evaluations, there will not be fires all the time.
Fire officials argue that a more sophisticated training facility is vital in a changing Sisters. Robertson noted that proposed new developments include three-story buildings (See related story, page 1).
We will eventually, in this town, have a ladder truck," he said.
New challenges require more advanced training.
The training facility will complement a new and expanded Sisters fire hall, which will see its grand opening next Saturday at 10 a.m. (See related story, page 3.)
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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