City officials work to keep lid on tinderbox

9,000 acres could be in danger of fire

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, Mar 25, 2005, Updated Oct 30, 2009

As Portland heads toward one of the driest summers on record, city officials are worried that public agencies are not doing enough to prevent catastrophic urban wildfires.

There are more than 9,000 acres of open spaces and natural areas in Portland owned by such government bodies as Portland Parks & Recreation, the Portland Office of Transportation and the city’s Bureau of General Services. None of these agencies has programs for promptly Ñ if ever Ñ removing dead brush, downed trees and other flammable materials.

“Agencies are not actively managing their properties to reduce fire hazards,” says Richard Haney, an inspector with the Portland Bureau of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services.

Despite the lack of fire prevention programs, local governments are committed to preserving more open spaces and natural areas to enhance livability. Metro has used a property tax levy approved by voters in 1995 to acquire hundreds of such acres within the city limits in recent years. Oregon Health & Science University donated 45 steep, forested acres on the southern flank of Marquam Hill to the parks bureau as part of a 30-year operating plan approved by the city last summer.

The city also is planning regulations that restrict development on private lands in environmentally sensitive areas Ñ regulations that could be expanded under a watershed enhancement program being considered as part of the city’s River Renaissance Initiative.

The risks of not aggressively managing these areas to minimize fires are identified in a comprehensive disaster mitigation plan adopted by the City Council last December. As documented in the plan, the fire bureau has responded to more than 1,302 natural vegetation fires between 1998 and 2004 Ñ many of which had the potential to destroy homes and businesses.

The city has narrowly avoided several potentially disastrous wildfires in recent years. That includes two fires along the Willamette Bluff in North Portland on property owned in part by the Bureau of General Services. In addition, a fire in Forest Heights last year could have spread into Forest Park if the wind had been blowing, fire officials say.

Although all the fires were extinguished before spreading into surrounding neighborhoods or business districts, Haney fears for the future. Several east Multnomah County fire districts already have imposed burn restrictions, even though Sunday was the first day of spring. Researchers from the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon State University released a forecast predicting “severe fire potential” in forests in and near the Portland area this summer. On Monday, Gov. Ted Kulongoski said he will consider whether to declare a statewide drought emergency next week after getting a recommendation from the state Drought Council.

Some city agencies have limited programs for reducing fire hazards on the properties they manage. For example, the Bureau of Environmental Services has conducted small controlled burns on parts of Powell Butte, Oaks Bottom and Elk Rock Island in recent years and replanted the areas with native, fire-resistant plants.

Mike Houck, director of the local nonprofit Urban Greenspaces Institute, praises the programs but says they are underfunded.

“Could they be doing more? Absolutely Ñ with more money,” he says.

Houck also believes the city should restrict new development in and around forested areas within the city limits.

“I feel strongly that at the public-private land interface such as Forest Park, Powell Butte and similar areas, the city has a responsibility to eliminate or strictly limit development of residential properties where wildfires might occur. Just as the city and the region should not allow development in flood plains, steep slopes and other areas likely to experience wildfire should be off-limits to development,” Houck says.

As a result of the plan being developed, the city has asked the federal government for nearly $1 million in fire management funds. The money is not expected to arrive in time to make much difference this summer, however.

“If things keep going the way they’ve been going, look out, it’s going to be bad,” says Haney, who worked on the plan, which was developed by the Portland Office of Emergency Management and called the Natural Hazard Mitigation Action Plan.

Homeowner starts cutting

Steve Lanigan plans to continue living in North Portland’s Overlook neighborhood for a long time. He and his wife, Alison, have just finished adding a second story to their house along North Skidmore Terrace to accommodate the future needs of their new daughter, Anna.

“Overlook is a great place to live, especially with the new light-rail line,” says Lanigan, a Forest Service employee who works downtown.

But Lanigan does not like what he sees when he looks across the street Ñ a steep ravine filled with blackberries, downed trees and other flammable materials. He is afraid it could catch fire and threaten the entire neighborhood, especially this summer, which already is predicted to be one of the driest on record.

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