Sisters casts wary eye on fire danger

Raging fires in Los Angeles are set to be the most catastrophic natural disaster in the state's history surpassing the 2018 Camp Fire in the town of Paradise that scorched more than 150,000 acres and was the deadliest wildfire in California's history. Ninety-five percent of the town burned in that fire.

The fire killed 85 people and destroyed almost 19,000 buildings in November 2018. The fire was active for 17 days. Governor Gavin Newsom on Sunday predicted that the Los Angeles fires would become the largest natural disaster in U.S. history exceeding the $200 billion damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

As Sisters Country residents watch in horror at the unfolding disaster, they recognize a frightening reality: Sisters lives with the destructive threat, too.

Photo by Bill Bartlett

Firefighters from several local agencies trained last year in a burn-to-learn scenario. Both structural and woodland firefighters are acutely aware of the vulnerability of Sisters Country communities to the impact of fire.

Several hundred homeowners in Sisters received a certified letter last Tuesday from Oregon Department of Forestry warning them of their high-risk classification. It was also the same day that the new statewide wildfire hazard map was released (See related story.). And on Wednesday at its regularly scheduled meeting, Sisters City Council included in its agenda Defensible Space Regulations. Suddenly, wildfire was the primary topic of conversation throughout Sisters Country and remains so today.

The threat of wildfire in Sisters is exacerbated for homeowners by the continuing issue of finding adequate or affordable fire insurance.

Dave Isbell wrote to The Nugget: "We live in Crossroads. We got our homeowners insurance renewal last week and discovered our premium had doubled. We decided to 'shop around' for a better deal and discovered that we can't find anyone that will insure our home at any price! If it's happening to us, it's happening to others (think Tollgate, Camp Sherman). This has the potential to be way more destructive to our community than any wildfire!"

Insurers, some leaving the Oregon markets altogether, are probably the best gauge of risk, with their rates rising on average 25-30 percent for Sisters.

Fire Chief Tony Prior says preparedness is imperative. Creating defensible space around your property is your best insurance. Defensible space is the buffer you create between your business or home and the grass, trees, shrubs, or any wildland area that surrounds it. Proper defensible space can slow or stop the spread of wildfire and help protect your home or business.

At City Hall, planners are preparing a set of new or modified codes that seek to harden properties, especially those that will preserve historic structures.

We asked Prior how many structure fires his department could fight simultaneously.

"Two, possibly three, with auto aid," he replied.

Auto aid is the cooperative agreement with neighboring agencies Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District and Black Butte Ranch Fire Department. The next tier of support is Mutual Aid, which includes nearly all Central Oregon fire agencies from La Pine to Sunriver, to Bend to Redmond and beyond. The nearest support would be about 20 minutes out from the time of the call.

Prior cites the importance of Oregon Department of Forestry and the firefighting units of the Forest Service as vital in protecting Sisters.

Prior urges property owners to get "fire wise," both in the literal sense and the practical sense. The Firewise USA program provides simple, effective steps to help communities reduce the risk of destruction from wildfire. The District offers free consultations for local homeowners to review their home and look for ways to make their property more defendable during a wildfire and to help prevent the spread of wildfire.

Deschutes County has various fuels reduction and mitigation grants on its books and the state is continually incentivizing homeowners to mitigate loss from wildfire. The Oregon State Fire Marshal's Defensible Space Assessment Incentive Reimbursement Pilot Program provides eligible participants in selected high-wildfire hazard and socially vulnerable communities with $250 to help offset defensible space improvement costs. This program incentivizes proactive wildfire prevention and empowers Oregonians to create defensible space around their homes and properties, supported by limited, one-time funding.

However, Sisters, due to its "affluence" does not qualify, while Eagle Crest and Black Butte Ranch do. And that has several people scratching their head.

Unlike the woodlands surrounding Los Angeles where thinning and prescribed burns have been neglected, according to observers, the forest surrounding Sisters has been aggressively thinned with major reductions to ladder fuels.

Much of the devastating Los Angeles fires are occurring in steep terrain and hard-to-reach structures. Sisters by comparison sits on mostly flat lands and generally its residents have more than one means of egress with a few stark exceptions. So, Sisters and the surrounding forest subdivisions are vulnerable - but much work has been done to protect from and prepare for fire danger.

"We cannot be complacent," Prior warns. "But we shouldn't panic, either."