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Fire protection that isn't Photo by Jim Craven Betty Sutton looks at what's left of her Sams Valley home, consumed by fire in February. Like many other rural residents, Sutton thought a state fire-protection assessment provided protection for her home. She found out too late that it didn't. Tax misperception can end in ashes By JULIE SWENSEN You pay a fire protection fee every year at tax time, so your home must be protected by a fire department, right? Not necessarily. Nearly 19,000 Jackson County residents pay an annual assessment of at least $18 for state fire protection, and many of them will receive no help from a fire department if their homes burn. "It's a real common misperception amongst those folks," said Brett Fillis, Applegate fire chief and president of the Rogue Valley Fire Chiefs Association. He and other fire officials say people often think the money they're paying for state fire protection taxes goes to a fire department to protect their home. But in reality, the money goes to the Oregon Department of Forestry to fight wildfires. People who pay tax to the Forestry Department are those who live on parcels considered forest land. The county has 18,982 tax lots that are assessed the forestry department tax, said Jim Wolf, fire prevention planner for the state Forestry Department in Jackson County. Sams Valley area resident Betty Sutton found out the hard way that she has such land when her rural home on Avenue of the Sun caught fire a few months ago. As fire ravaged the home, an emergency dispatcher told her nothing could be done because she lived outside the fire district. The flue fire burned Sutton's two-story, three-bedroom home to the ground. Sutton had watched firefighters at the nearby Hull Mountain fire in 1994, so she expected to see them come around again. She said the lack of response was a wake-up call to her neighbors, who are now collecting money to buy a water truck. Although five insurance companies refused to insure her home, Sutton thought her property taxes covered fire protection. "We paid for fire protection, and we're not getting it," she said. So what does taxpayers' money buy if not protection for a home? "What we'd do is protect the forest from that house fire," said Orville Eary, protection supervisor for the county's office of the state Forestry Department. He said the money pays for bulldozers and crews to build fire lines and for helicopters to dump water and retardant. Saving houses isn't part of the department's mission. "We don't have the equipment to fight the structure fires, and we're not paid to do that," Eary said. He explained that of the Forestry Department's 11 engines, three carry 500 gallons of water and the rest carry 200 gallons. A burning house needs a lot more water than that, he said. The nozzles the Forestry Department uses put out 25 gallons of water a minute, but firefighters entering a structure use hoses that put out 125 gallons of water a minute, Eary said. "We will protect their house from the fire coming to it if we can. If we can't, why there's nothing we can do," Eary said. Still, several homeowners have been in Sutton's situation in recent years, according to the Rogue Valley Fire Chiefs Association. In some of those cases, people who called 911 didn't know they were outside of a fire district and had no fire protection. Some knew but asked for help anyway. People who don't know whether they live within fire district boundaries can call area fire departments or the Oregon Department of Forestry. Also, maps showing fire district boundaries are on display at the county courthouse. If you live outside a fire district, making an annexation request is an option. Fillis said the Applegate district gets two or three annexation requests a year. Or, you can follow Betty Sutton's neighbors' lead and buy a water truck. Fire officials say responding to calls for help outside districts may seem like the right thing to do, but it can compromise service for paying customers. "If I was a taxpayer and that was going on, I think I'd be furious," said Fillis. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA