HomeMy WebLinkAboutWildfire Fuels Reduction Prog. Ashland Fire and Rescue - Wildfire Fuels Reduction Program
Chris Chambers - Forest Work Grant Coordinator
Living with Fire
Ashland is located in a very dry, hot, fire-prone environment.
Vegetation types we see today are a direct result of fire history.
It's not "if," we will have another large-scale fire, only "when."
Conditions in Ashland are similar to those in the Oakland/Berkeley Hills before the 1991 fire.
History of the Program
Keith Woodley and Marty Main
Small grants, time consuming
Work done on Ridge Road, Glenview Drive, Strawberry Lane, and Granite Street
Fire Season of 2000 led to National Fire Plan
Fire Plan Grant, Title 3 Grant
Creation of Forest Work Grant Coordinator Position
Funded by Jackson County, National Fire Plan and City of Ashland.
Responsibilities include Fuels Reduction in Interface, By-Product Utilization,
Liaison with Forest Service.
Goals
Protect lives and property - Reduce natural fuels within the Wildland-Urban Interface.
Create Defensible Space around homes.
Decrease danger to firefighters
Protect Watershed and Restore Ecosystem Health
Create suppression opportunities before fire enters the watershed.
Thin brash in favor of conifers
Evolution
Prioritization of work
http://www.Ashland.or.us/Files/fire_map_sm. PDF
Management Priorities
Defensible Space in Extreme Risk Zone
Defensible space creates a buffer from fuels, allows firefighters to work, and saves homes!
Defensible space area depends on slope, fuel type
Example of Defensible Space
Fuels discontinuous with 200 feet of house
Home construction is non-flammable
Landscaping is small and fire resistant.
Fuel free zone around home
Fuel Free Zone
Fire-Resistant Landscaping
Construction Materials
Management Outside of Defensible Space
Watershed Protection-
Fuels Thinning/Forest Restoration within the Interface
Strawberry/Hald Park Restoration by REAL Corps
On the Landscape
Important to Know
No fuels work or construction can make a home totally fire safe.
We live m an environment where the worst case scenario is possible.
We all live with accepted risks, how much is OK with you?
Limitations
Vegetation grows back.
Time constrained.
Funding.
· Fuels discontinuous with 200 feet of house
· Home construction is non-flammable
· Landscapin8 is small and firc-r~sistant.
· Fuel flee zone around home
Fuel Free Zone ......
Fire-Resistant Landscaping ....
Construction Materials .....
Management Outside of Defensible Space
-Watea'shcd Protection-
Fuels Thinning/Forest Restoration Within the Interface
Strawberry/I-Iald Park Restoration by REAL Corps
On the Landscape
Important to Know ....
· No fuels work or construction can make a home totally fire safe.
· We live m an environment where the worst case scenario is possible.
· We all live with accepted risks, how much is OK with you?
Limitations