News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The nation watched awed as a massive fire consumed a large portion of the New Jersey boardwalk last month. The wind-driven blaze destroyed business after business as dozens of fire companies struggled to contain its spread.
For the history-minded, the conflagration called to mind the destruction of much of downtown Sisters twice during the 1920s.
Could such a destructive fire ravage Sisters again today?
Sisters Fire Chief Roger Johnson and Deputy Fire Chief Jeremy Ast say it's possible, given a big fire and high winds. However, thanks to strong building codes, advances in firefighting practices and technology and improvements in construction, the chances of a fire sweeping downtown Sisters are greatly reduced.
That's true across the nation.
"We've reduced a significant amount of the fire problem across the country," Chief Johnson said.
Smoke detectors and fire alarms provide early detection and sprinkler systems help keep fires small. Firefighting technology, especially breathing apparatus and thermal imaging cameras that help firefighters "see" in the dark, allow more direct and aggressive attack on a blaze.
Agencies across Central Oregon are prepared to help each other in the event of a big fire.
"We have a very good, pre-planned mutual aid response throughout Central Oregon," Chief Johnson said. "The depth of it is really pretty good."
Johnson and Ast note that the separation by blocks in downtown Sisters creates natural fire-breaks and makes vast and rapid spread of a fire less likely.
There are, however, a few long blocks of attached or narrowly separated buildings, such as the run from Oak Street to Elm Street - Mackenzie Creek Mercantile to Sisters Market.
If a wind-driven fire got going along that block, firefighters might be forced to cut breaks through buildings, just as they did on the boardwalk.
Of course, the best way to deal with a multi-alarm fire is to avoid having one in the first place. That's where modern construction and stringent fire codes come into play.
Firewalls help prevent or delay fire from moving laterally, and modern construction techniques prevent rapid spread from first floor to the attic. Of course, there are old buildings in Sisters that were built way before such techniques were available.
And a firewall that has a doorway cut into it isn't a firewall anymore.
That's why the fire department is on top of modifications to commercial buildings - to make sure the modifications don't compromise fire prevention/safety.
"When you want to make a modification to a commercial property, you can't just cut a door in a wall," Deputy Chief Ast said. "A commercial building really shouldn't have an alteration to the structure without at least consulting with the building officials."
Retrofitting an old Sisters building for a new use can be complicated and expensive, Ast acknowledged, but it's critical for health and safety. Depending on their structure, buildings may be required to have sprinklers. For example, the Tamarack Village apartments were required to have a sprinkler system to go to three stories, because Sisters doesn't have a ladder truck (Black Butte Ranch does).
"The permitting process isn't just there to be a funding source," Ast said. "We're not out to shut anybody down. We're out to improve fire safety with a proactive and, I think, pretty reasonable approach."
Recent work on the downtown water system is expected to have a positive impact on water flows. Ast noted that public works is part of any 9-1-1 callout for a fire.
"Part of their response for us is to make sure all the wells are up and running and we have all the water we need," Ast said.
Fire officials study incidents across the nation, Chief Johnson noted. All kinds of fires are reported to a national data center, where patterns are analyzed and best practices constantly modified to ratchet down harder and harder on the threat of fire.
So, while catastrophic fires still occur, Sisters is far less vulnerable than it was in the old days - as long as property owners, tenants and the fire department all stay vigilant and safety-conscious.
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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