Defensible space—a strategically managed area around your home—can be the deciding factor in preventing embers from igniting your property. By acting now, you can help create a fire-adapted community, reducing risks for everyone. Defensible space is the area between a house and a wildfire where vegetation has been modified to:
- Reduce the threat of wildfire
- Provide a way for firefighters to defend the house
- Slow the spread of fire to and from the building
RESOURCES:
Oregon Wildfire Workforce Partnership
The Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council and the Heart of Oregon Corps partnered in 2022 to form the Central Oregon Wildfire Workforce Partnership, or COWWP, under the Oregon Conservation Corps funding opportunity. Continued support has come from the Oregon Department of Forestry Small Forestland Grant and the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Grant.
To discuss a potential fuels reduction project in your community, fill out this application.
Click here for more information about the project.
ODF Grants Waitlist
Add your name to the ODF grants waitlist for Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson Counties. The intent of this list to identify landowners interested in wildfire fuels reduction and defensible space assistance. Adding your name is not a guarantee that grant funding is or will be available, but may assist us in securing funding, especially if we can show a groundswell of interest in the same area. Please share this form with your neighbors. We will keep your name on this waitlist long term and contact you on a first come-first served basis as funds become available.
UDRC Low-income Senior or Low-income Disabled Defensible Space Program
The intention of this program is to offer assistance to property owners who cannot do the work themselves, or afford to hire someone else to do the work. Upper Deschutes River Communities has partnered with Council on Aging of Central Oregon to provide free wildfire fuels reduction services for low-income senior or low-income disabled homeowners within the La Pine Rural Fire Protection District.
Click here for a printable flyer describing the program. Click here to print the application form with income and age or disability requirements. Applicants for the Low-income Senior or Low-income Disabled Program may not apply for the Reimbursement Program in the same year.
If you want to participate in this program, please print and fill out the application form or call UDRC at 541-815-1362 to request the application form. UDRC will accept as many qualified applicants as resources allow. A representative from UDRC will assess your property and propose a fuels reduction project to improve your defensible space for a wildfire.
Oregon State Fire Marshall – Defensible Space
Wildfire risks are rising, and preparation has never been more critical. Oregon Defensible Space is here to help Oregonians safeguard their homes and communities through proactive, practical measures.
The Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Defensible Space Incentive Program offers eligible homeowners in wildfire-vulnerable communities a $250 payment to support essential fire mitigation projects. Scheduling a free defensible space assessmentis easy and ensures your property is better protected from the next wildfire season.
Join the movement to protect Oregon’s homes, lives, and landscapes. Click here to schedule your free assessment and take the first step toward a safer future. Together, we can face the wildfire challenge with resilience.
