By SUE RYAN
News staff writer
August 19, 2007

While the ashes from the Frankton Road Fire have cooled, fire officials want homeowners to realize fire danger is still high.

That includes a total burn ban in Wasco and Hood River counties in effect until further notice.

The fire burned 27 acres in Hood River County on a mixture of county and city lands. The situation became so dire that officials evacuated 100 homes.

Although the blaze was in Hood River County, officials stress that fire danger remains high through out the Columbia Gorge region from Moro to The Dalles to Hood River to Cascade Locks.

They have seized the moment to remind homeowners that fire prevention is critical. West Side Fire Chief Jim Trammel emphasized that this applies not only during the few weeks following a high-profile blaze but all year round.

“We’ve seen a lot of vacant lots being cleared in the last two weeks around Hood River but it must be done from year to year,” Trammel said. “That is not to discourage people from clearing now because all of that helps in defending a home against wildfire.”

To show some of the work that has been completed in Hood River County on demonstration sites, Project Coordinator Peter Mackwell took Hood River County Commissioner Barbara Briggs on a tour Wednesday afternoon.

The county had received money from the federal government known as Title III funds, which paid for the demonstration projects and for Mackwell to write a Community Wildfire Protection Plan. While the site they toured was the private residence of Colin Wood, the public can go to Panorama Point to look at how similar work is being done there on county lands.

“We would like to emphasize that often people don’t realize things (fire prevention) like this help make it easier for the firefighters,” said Mike Schrankel.

He coordinated the Title III funds for Hood River County, where he is also the geographic information systems coordinator. Schrankel and Trammel joined the tour to explain how a well-prepared home against wildfire is more defensible than one that is not.

“The first thing we did was widen the driveway,” Mackwell said. “If fire trucks can’t get to your house, they can’t defend it against wildfire.”

The driveway needs to be clear enough both in width and height. That includes clearing overhanging branches and shrubbery as well. (See sidebar for specifics.)

Trammel wants homeowners to realize that firefighters have been trained to not stay and defend structures in a situation that threatens their safety. He showed Briggs the ticket book that each fire engine carries in Hood River County.

The triage list may seem blunt to the unknowing but at the top of the list it states that if the driveway is too narrow, steep or blocked for access that firefighters are to write the structure off. That also goes for the roof already being on fire.

As Mackwell escorted his group around the property, he explained how the crews had taken into account the slope and the homeowner’s needs. To clear a defensible space does not automatically mean to raze everything to the ground.

“The first thing we did to was to evaluate which and how many trees were going to come out,” Mackwell said. “We looked at a balance between fire safety and what the owner wanted.”

The crews cleared primary and secondary fire breaks around the home. That included taking out underbrush, poison oak and blackberries. They thinned trees out and cut tree limbs off up to a 12-foot height.

Doing this keeps the fire from climbing into treetops. It essentially creates a break in the “ladder” of fuels that can spread the fire into treetops, which adds fuel and makes the fire grow. While the fire would still burn through, it would be at ground level and be easier to fight.

“I would say if a fire was coming up that hill right now, this home would withstand it,” Trammel said.

For more fire prevention tips, see sidebar or go online to http://www.keeporegongreen.org/ or http://extension.oregonstate.edu/emergency/wildfire.php.