Oregon cities including Ashland and Sisters have recently adopted new home hardening requirements in their development codes, and it appears that Bend may soon follow suit.
On Feb. 25, the Bend City Council moved a home hardening code proposal forward for an April 1 vote, with May 15 discussed as the proposed effective date.
The proposed requirements, which fall under Oregon Residential Specialty code Section R327, would mean new homes need to be built with building standards thought to mitigate the risk of urban fires. Although the potential effective date is only two months away, city officials say the growing concern over urban fires is one of the reasons for the recent push.
“The risk is everywhere in Bend. It will just differ with different vegetation,” said Melissa Steele, deputy fire marshal of Wildfire Preparedness for Bend Fire & Rescue. “Just by thinking, ‘I live in the center of town, I don’t have a risk,’ is not true.”
According to Steele, the Fire Marshal saw a “huge” increase of wildfire home risk assessments in 2025. In wildfire home risk assessments, a representative from the Fire Marshal provides homeowners with information and tips on how to prevent fires from starting on their property.
The number of typical assessments within city limits and rural Deschutes county, which Steele says are around 115 per year, increased last year to over 1,000.
Steele claims the increase comes after the 2024 fires that ravaged Los Angeles, California, when more homeowners became concerned about wildfire near their own homes.
Home-hardening can be defined as addressing or altering the most fire-prone areas of a home or building to make them resistant to embers and subsequent fires.
The new code would require new residential developers and builders to ensure they have the proper roofing material, window glazing and up-to-code ventilation openings and coverings.
Building cost increases, although “difficult to measure,” are expected to increase 2 to 3%. Those found to be in violation of the code might encounter higher insurance premiums to cover their homes.
The City’s current defensible space code includes a minimum standard for vegetation management, fuel modification and defensible space maintenance. In May, councilors plan to consider adopting regulations on fencing, restrictions on flammable plants and the way the code will be applied.
“The timing makes me nervous,” City Councilor Gina Franzosa said at a Feb. 25 meeting. “This feels like a little bit of a surprise to me, and I imagine it’s a big surprise to builders.”
Franzosa was the only councilor who voted for the code to apply for urban areas only.
The City Council ultimately determined to bring the topic back for a vote on April 1 with a tentative effective date of May 15.
Another key topic at the meeting was the possibility of change coming to defensible space codes. Steele emphasized the role and importance of defensible space, as it is an area that can increase or decrease the flammability of a home, depending on how it is kept.
“This is important because 90% of ignitions from wildfires are embers,” Steele says. “Embers can travel up to 3 miles… Embers can still land on your flammable bush right next to your home and start your home on fire.”
Under the code discussed, the first 5 feet around a person’s home would be strictly regulated to prevent flames from reaching homes.
The City’s current defensible space code includes a minimum standard for vegetation management, fuel modification and defensible space maintenance. In May, councilors plan to consider adopting regulations on fencing, restrictions on flammable plants and the way the code will be applied.
If the City Council approves an update to the defensible space code, it could mean residents would receive citations for violations. Though, Senior Policy Analyst Sarah Hutson proposed a grace period where they focus on educating the public before enforcing a new code. Hutson proposed at least one year of focusing on education.
According to Bend Community Relations Manager Jacob Larsen, current code enforcement is complaint-based. Someone has to make a complaint to the city about violations for code to be enforced.
“Future enforcement strategies will be part of the larger future discussion with Council about defensible space provisions,” Larson said.
“It’s not a one-and-done,” Hutson says. “Every year folks need to be maintaining the vegetation and other things on their property.”
At the Feb. 25 meeting, councilors also discussed long-term implications for people’s pocketbooks.
“I don’t have $30,000 sitting around to do all that right now and most people in Bend don’t, so I want us to be realistic,” Franzosa said.
Hutson said that ideally to make the initiative work there will need to be a collaborative effort between neighbors and an “understanding that they share” a risk of urban fires.
“The fire department, private and public organizations, insurance companies, the health and safety professionals as well… these organizations, all of us, should consider themselves to be one team with one mission and that is to reduce the risk of urban wildfire,” Hutson said.
This article appears in the Source March 5, 2026.
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