Residents hot regarding fire rating
Phillip Salfen & Heidi Kleve (Photo by Scott Jorgensen)
City of Cave Junction residents Heidi Kleve and Phillip Salfen live along a quiet cul-de-sac on Wells Drive.
First-time home owners, they moved into their house in October 2004, and have had no reasons to complain about their living situation.
But on July 11 this year, the couple received a letter informing them that their residence had been rated as “extreme” for fire danger. Kleve thought that was odd, given the lot’s landscape.
“There is absolutely no vegetation on our property whatsoever,” Kleve said.
Kleve and Salfen were among 19,000 Josephine County property owners to receive those letters, which originated from the county’s Forest Land-Urban Interface Classification Committee.
The letters invited property owners to attend a Wednesday night, July 18 public hearing at the Flower Bldg. at the Josephine County Fairgrounds. Kleve made the trip to Grants Pass that day in an attempt to obtain more information. But she was hardly alone.
Traffic backed up on Redwood Hwy. as an overflow crowd attempted to enter the building. Officers from Grants Pass Dept. of Public Safety blocked the fairgrounds entry after officials began turning people away at the door.
Residents fortunate enough to park and make it inside the building were given a synopsis of the committee’s findings. But few seemed happy with what they learned.
Brian Ballou, an information officer with Oregon Dept. of Forestry, was unable to address the crowd due to a recent bout with laryngitis. Instead, committee member Tom Link was tasked with explaining the classifications, and he frequently was interrupted by irate citizens.
Criteria for the classifications were based on history of fires, topography and vegetation. They were conducted by areas, not individual lots.
The committee was formed in compliance with the Oregon Forestland-Urban Interface Fire Protection Act of 1997. The bill passed through the Oregon Senate 23-1, and the state House of Representatives on a 52-0 vote. It allows the state to assess suppression costs of up to $100,000 for fires originating on properties classified as high-risk.
“There is no common sense in how they rated people’s properties,” Kleve believes.
Jim Raffenburg, chairman of the Josephine County Board of Commissioners, was among those who received a letter. However, traffic congestion prevented him from attending the July 18 meeting.
Raffenburg later said that implementation of SB 360 represents a “massive unfunded mandate on citizens.” He stated that the potential state fine of $100,000 is “quite a figure to throw at people.”
The new regulations require driveway “fuel breaks,” as well as 30-to-50- foot breaks around homes. Kleve said that such regulations wouldn’t work for her property, as adjoining lots are within the state-mandated perimeter.
“The fire breaks they would have us build are unrealistic,” Kleve said. “There’s no way we could comply.”
Although finding fault with how citizens were notified about the regulations, Kleve said she understands why they were put into place.
“The intentions are good,” she said. “The rationale behind this is good. But it was poorly implemented.
“There has got to be a better way.”
Kleve continued that one point of contention is that the burden is entirely on property owners to demonstrate that their lots have been misclassified.
“We’ve been found guilty, and have to prove ourselves innocent,” she said.
During the July 18 meeting, citizens also expressed concerns about properties bordering federal lands and riparian areas, as well as the potential for increased home owner’s insurance rates.
Due to the overflow crowd, the public hearing will be rescheduled. But no date had been set as of press time.
Raffenburg said he hopes that state officials will be mindful of the strong reaction they received when informing citizens of the new regulations.
“I hope the dissatisfaction got their attention,” he said.
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