We knew it was coming, but as fire season begins its annual destruction, people are once again left wondering what we can do and if we could have done more. The benefit of hindsight already gives us much to ponder when it comes to what each of us — and our local governments — can do.
In Redmond this week, a fire near a home in the Dry Canyon was made worse by “excessive fuel load” in the yard.
In that same city over the Fourth of July, another home went up in flames from an errant firework. Meanwhile, crews were dispatched to fight the Coyner Fire that started on the west side of town. The blaze spread so rapidly that all available teams had to be there to fight the fire — leaving no one to fight the fires at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center that were started by the legal fireworks show the city put on. In Bend, where the only fireworks allowed are the legal ones shot off from Pilot Butte, fire crews know they’ll see fires start, and they’re ready for the job. In Redmond, it took one or two blazes elsewhere to leave the legal show without support.
On U.S. Bureau of Land Management lands and other public lands, crews have installed fire detection technology that uses artificial intelligence to spot fires earlier than the human eye can. And as the BLM warned in a recent press release, that same technology could also be used to identify the humans responsible for starting the fires in the first place. Fines for starting fires can be up to $100,000, the BLM warned.
Leaders may beat the drum about fireworks and fuels, and warn about big fines for starting fires, but every year, it seems some people have to learn things all over again.
Local governments around the region are trying to do their part to talk about prevention. They’ve shared the message about cleaning up dry fuels in your yard, and have even offered incentives like free debris disposal and grants to convert properties to a FireWise landscape.
Early next month, the Redmond City Council will once again take up the issue of banning fireworks in the city. They may still allow a legal, sanctioned show like the one that happened at the fairgrounds, but could see fit to ban the sale of fireworks, and stop allowing individuals to set them off. The notion is sure to unleash plenty of commentary from both sides; some who still think lighting a shooting flame in the middle of a dry summer is responsible, and others who want one less way to see their city go up in flames.
As this past Fourth of July demonstrated, cities can take very different approaches to extreme fire danger. In Bend, the Butte did light on fire, as it always does, but it was quickly extinguished. In Redmond, property was destroyed and crews from other parts of the region had to be called in to help. These aren’t random occurrences; they’re the result of decisions by leadership who should probably already know better. And yet, every year we launch the same debates.
The discussion over whether to ban fireworks in Redmond is sure to be a lively one that brings up talk of personal freedom and patriotism and so much more. But it’s hardly patriotic to burn your neighbor’s house down — and as fires continue to get bigger and hotter and more deadly in our region, it’s going to cost us all in the way resources are employed to strike them down.
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