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Title: |
Illinois Valley, OR -- Fire Plan
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Type: |
Regulatory
Education
Designation of high risk areas
Community Planning
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Jurisdiction: |
Fire District
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State: |
Oregon
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Program Description: |
Illinois Valley Fire Plan, Oregon
The Illinois Valley Fire Plan is one of the first Community Wildfire Protection Plans prepared to meet the requirements of the Healthy Forest Restoration Act. The Plan addresses the fire hazard and fuel reduction needs of the Illinois Valley region of Josephine County, in southwestern Oregon. The Illinois County Fire Plan coordinates with the larger Josephine County Integrated Fire Plan, which focuses on fire hazards in the county. Both Fire Plans coordinate with the Southwest Oregon Fire Management Plan for the entire fire planning district.
The Illinois Valley Fire Plan is an educational document, explaining to residents the nature of the fire hazard risk in their environment, the principles of defensible space, and detailed instructions on reducing fuels, disposing of slash, and creating shaded fuels breaks. The draft of the Illinois Valley Fire Plan can be viewed at this web site. The entire planning process is fully explained in the plan, with examples of the publicity materials and helpful information in the Appendices.
Developing the Fire Plan
The Illinois Valley Fire Plan (IVFP) was developed with the input of many stakeholders including local government entities, local fire departments and the state organization responsible for forest management. Adoption of the plan will be by: Illinois Valley Fire Protection District, City of Cave Junction, Josephine County Board of Commissioners, and the Oregon Department of Forestry. Only 23% of the Illinois Valley is owned by private landowners. Federal lands account of 74% of the valley, the state owns 1%, and city, county and school properties account for the other 2%. Cooperators in preparing the plan include: US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and residents of the seven communities located within the valley.
The core of the planning process for creating the IVFP is a series of meetings held in the seven communities within the valley. At these meetings residents were educated about creating and maintaining defensible space around their homes. The Risk Assessment for the Illinois Valley, which was taken from the larger risk assessment for Josephine County, was presented to the residents and other stakeholders. Residents were asked for their input on issues and concerns regarding fire in their communities. Participants gathered around tables on which base maps of the region were displayed, and with the Josephine County GIS staff present, were asked to identify values, risks, hazards, resources for wildfire protection and fire-hazard reduction priorities. In this way results from the formal risk assessment were compared to perceptions of risk by the residents and stakeholders. A planning committee was developed to oversee the planning process. That committee was later integrated into the Illinois Valley Fire Safe Council (IVFSC), an outgrowth of the planning process.
Risk Assessment
The Illinois Valley Fire Plan used the wildfire risk assessment methodology developed for the Josephine County Integrated Fire Plan (JCIFP). The JCIFP wildfire risk assessment takes into consideration a combination of factors including:
- Risk: the potential and frequency for wildfire ignition based on past occurrences;
- Hazard: contributing conditions � fuels, slope, aspect, elevation and weather;
- Values: the people, property, natural resources and other resources that could suffer losses in a wildfire event;
- Protection Capability: the ability to mitigate losses, prepare for, respond to and suppress wildland and structural fires;
- Structural Vulnerability: roof type and building materials, access to the structure and, the defensible space or fuels reductions around structures.
Community identified risks and hazards were evaluated as identified in the public meetings.
Mitigation Strategy
A mitigation strategy was developed to reduce the risk of wildfire in the Illinois Valley. Proposed mitigation strategies included the following elements:
- Defensible Space: Education on defensible space and individual risk assessments should be provided by IVFSC, IV Fire District, Oregon Department of Forestry, with emphasis on providing services to low income households. Defensible space around homes should be a minimum of 100 feet. New developments in Josephine County must conform to Article 76 which sets out defensible space requirements for new construction.
- Fuels Reduction: Top priority fuels reduction projects were identified, including roadways in high density neighborhoods or especially dangerous evacuation routes. Shaded fuel breaks and brush clearances were recommended for roads in each of the WUI communities. Second priority fuel reduction projects were also identified.
- Reducing Structural Ignitability: education for residents about roof materials, and how to safeguard vent openings, decks, outbuildings, wood piles and propane tanks.
- Fire Protection: Upgrade local bridges and fix address numbering system problems, develop signs for evacuation routes, educate residents concerning safe evacuation. Need for more volunteer firefighters, fix water storage and availability problems.
- Education: implement a community fire safety education program including PSA�s in local media. Work with the schools to develop an education program to create signs for fire safety on public lands for recreational users and hunters. Explore �Big Red Truck Program� for defensible space education.
- Illinois Valley Fire Safe Council: participate in all committees of the JCIFP, assist neighborhoods creating phone trees, mapping and other projects; continue fire planning efforts at the local level, review the IVFP every five years and update using a collaborative public process.
Contact Information
For more information on the Illinois Valley Fire Plan, contact Jerry Schaeffer, Fire Marshal, via email at [email protected] or write to:
Illinois Valley Fire District
28195 Redwood Highway
Cave Junction, OR 97523
(541) 592-2225
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Images: |
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Residents gather around maps to identify wildfire hazard areas at a community meeting in Illinois Valley.
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