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54 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, April 26, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend March 12, 2004 Focus on wildfire safety Homeshow planned Saturday for people who live in urban interface regions By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — Rural homeowners have two choices: They can start defending their homes against a wildfire now, or they can wait till the heat of battle. Better to start now, say experts who have scheduled a Wildfire Safety Homeshow Saturday for those living in the urban interface. The free event will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Oregon State University Extension Service office, 569 Hanley Road. The point, said Cindy Deacon Williams, conservation director of Headwaters, an Ashland-based environmental coalition, is that wildfires are natural and will continue to occur. "In this neck of the woods, in these kinds of forests, you can bet there will be a next fire no matter where you are," she said. Advertisement "But if you are prepared, your home will have a high likelihood of surviving the fire." "The landscaping doesn’t have to look like a moonscape," added Jim Wolf, a fire-prevention officer with the Oregon Department of Forestry in Central Point. Topics will include wildland fire and ecology, defensible space, fuel-break fundamentals, finding your home’s vulnerabilities, landscaping on the fringe, dealing with debris and state law requirements. The latter refers to Senate Bill 360, the Oregon Forestlands Urban Interface Fire Protection Act of 1997 that sets standards for reducing the threat of fires around rural homes. Under the act, rural landowners will have the option of meeting the standards, which include creating a fuel break from 50 to 100 feet from structures, depending on the property’s classification. Those who choose not to will be responsible for paying a portion of the state’s cost of suppressing a fire that starts on their land and spreads as a result of their decision not to meet those standards. That liability could be as much as $100,000. Jackson and Deschutes are test counties for the program. Landowners will have two years to meet the improvement goals after the property classifications are adopted by the state. "This is definitely the time of year to do it," said Williams, who with husband Jack lives on 10 rural acres just south of Medford. "If you wait until the fire season to start, you’ll be under an intense time crunch. "Now you can get out there and do things to your yard and home that will make a defensible space," she said. "It will make a make a huge difference later." For further information, call Headwaters at 482-4459 or check out Senate Bill 360 on the ODF Web site at www.odf.state.or.us . In addition to Headwaters and ODF, the event is co-hosted by the Jackson County Planning Department, Ashland, Jacksonville and rural fire departments, Oregon State University Extension Service and the AuCoin Institute at Southern Oregon University. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times