Editorial: Prepare for wildfire

When flame lengths get above 8 feet, fires are very difficult to control. The fire would be at high risk of getting into the crowns of trees and spotting. Flames at over 11 feet will bring on dramatic fire movement with crowning, long-range spot fires and ember travel.

You don’t need a computer simulation to tell you the area around Bend is ripe for wildfire. But this week Deschutes County commissioners will be looking at a computer simulation of the wildfire risk of the 364 square miles right around Bend. And it has projections about flame lengths.

Between 2008 and 2019 there were 627 fires in that greater Bend area. Some 7,705 acres were burned. Most of the fires — 82% — were human caused. The remaining 18% were from lightning. Fires caused by lightning do tend to burn more acres, because they are often in more remote areas. The largest recent fire was the Two Bulls Fire, which burned more than 6,000 acres.

The simulation is called the Oregon Wildfire Risk Explorer, created by fire officials and Oregon State University. It has breakdowns of burn probabilities for fires of more than 250 acres, fuel model groups, potential impacts to people and wildlife, and flame lengths. You can see it for yourself here: tinyurl.com/GreaterBendfire. It’s a large document; the wildfire risk discussion starts on Page 144.

There are areas west of Bend the simulation says could have average fire intensity of flames more than 11 feet. Most of the area is in the 4-to-8-feet range.

This is only a simulation. It’s only as good as its model and the data fed into it. But like we said, you didn’t need a computer simulation to know the potential for danger.

So get that debris off your roof. Household vents should have screens to prevent embers from being sucked in. Keep vegetation away from the house.

Bend Fire & Rescue and the Oregon Department of Forestry do provide free home assessments. Now it is wetter and cooler, but the heightened risk will be back.