FIRE-PROOF YOUR HOME

Eugene Weekly, 7.17.08

Now that fire season is upon us, making homes in the foothills “firesafe” should be a priority for rural homeowners, says Cascadia's Ecosystem Advocates' Josh Schlossberg. 

“This fire season, where you hear about homes being burnt or even lives being lost, don’t blame the natural cycle of wildfire or enviros working to protect the natural wealth of forests from more logging industry destruction,” Schlossberg says.  

CEA has been looking for volunteers to make their home safe from wildfires. Homes located near the edge of the forest (aka the wildland-urban interface) are particularly at risk of catching fire when the nearby forest burns.

Creating “defensible space” around homes with large risks to wildfire requires trimming dead branches and branches that hang low, cleaning gutters, creating fuel breaks, mowing lawns, storing combustibles in safe areas and other clearing of debris from within 100 feet of the home, also known as the “home ignition zone,” according to the firewise.org website.  

Schlossberg says the U.S. Forest Service, the BLM, politicians and the logging industry insist that in order to keep homes and people safe from wildfire, thinning trees out of the backcountry is the number one priority. 

Schlossberg says that instead of focusing on saving lives and homes by educating the public about the “firesafe” procedures and steps that need to be taken, attention is focused on logging in the backcountry, which ultimately devastates native forest ecosystems and doesn’t protect homes.  

More than a quarter-million Oregon residences are located in areas at significant risk of wildfire, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry. According to Schlossberg, studies show that protecting a home with “firesafe” techniques can give houses a “95 percent chance of withstanding even a stand replacement fire.” A stand replacement fire is when everything above ground in the forest burns.

If you are interested in protecting your home from wildfire and are willing to offer your residence for a one-day demonstration on making it “firesafe,” contact Josh Schlossberg at 302-0159 or email him at info [at] eco-advocates.org.  — Courtney Jacobs