‘Oakridge is very much in danger of wildfire,’ an OSU scientist warns at ‘safety night’ gathering

By DOUG BATES/Editor/The Herald — About 60 Oakridge-Westfir residents heard thousands of words about wildfire Friday evening, but the single biggest message was just a few words long:

Get ready; your community is vulnerable.

Speaker after speaker offered some version of that cautionary advice during Friday’s “Wildfire Safety Night” event at Greenwaters Park.

“I’m not being alarmist when I say Oakridge is very much in danger of wildfire,” said James Johnston, a fire ecologist from Oregon State University.

Johnston said he has been coming to Oakridge for many years and considers it “an important place to study fire.” That’s in part because the Oakridge-Westfir area presents ideal growing conditions through much of the year, creating vast amounts of wildfire fuel, and then turns hot and very dry during the fire season, he said.

Every 10 to 20 years, treacherously dry and hot east winds threaten disaster for the community, he said.

That was perhaps the most sobering piece of news delivered by a variety of representatives of agencies with a stake in keeping Oakridge-Westfir safe from wildfire. The speakers included Anne Trapanese, fuels planner for the Middle Fork Ranger District of the Willamette National Forest, and Justin Patten, fire planning forester with the Oregon Department of Forestry South Cascade District.

Patence Winningham, Lane County’s emergency manager, told the audience she lives at McKenzie Bridge and had first-hand experience with disaster during last September’s ravaging wildfires that required evacuation of the McKenzie Valley. When asked whether Oakridge has an evacuation plan, Winningham said she’s “working on it.”

Oakridge does have an emergency response plan, and it varies depending on circumstances. Friday evening’s talks, followed by a townhall-style panel discussion, was clearly aimed more at raising awareness of the need for wildfire prevention and preparedness.

Moderator for the program at the park’s amphitheater was Sarah Altemus-Pope, director of the Southern Willamette Forest Cooperative. It hosted the event, along with 10 other entities including Firewise USA, a program that  teaches people how to adapt to living with wildfire and encourages neighbors to work together and take action now to prevent losses.

Prior to the brief speaker presentations and subsequent panel discussion, the organizers showed a documentary film, “The West Is Burning,” in the park community building. The film depicts unlikely partners coming together to improve forest stewardship efforts and highlight the critical need for a unified response to climate change, land use and forest restoration.