With Home Fire Prevention Efforts, Expect a Future of Patchwork Regulations

A lot of people cheered when the Oregon State Legislative Assembly this session repealed the controversial wildfire risk map that some allege was a factor in rising insurance rates for their homes. Insurance companies we talked to for an earlier story assured us they have their own maps to assess risk — and anyway, a bill that passed in an earlier session was aimed at preventing insurance companies from using state maps to change rates.

Maybe a repeal of the risk map will help some people feel a little better — at least for a little while, because while they cheer about a step backward in terms of fire risk and statewide fire prevention efforts, the risk is just continuing to increase. Our warm seasons are hotter and drier, and no presence or absence of a map is going to change that. With or without a map, insurance companies that have to continue to pay out massive sums due to loss of homes are certainly going to continue to raise rates.

The City of Sisters recently adopted its own defensible-space codes for new construction. With the repeal of statewide wildfire risk map legislation that included a home-hardening and defensible-space regulations, municipalities have to adopt their own. Credit: readyforwildfire.org

Now that the water has been thrown on the debate about the state’s wildfire risk map, we can only hope that more communities will begin to focus on the things that have the potential to keep insurance costs down, and prevent fires, too. Case in point: the City of Sisters, which recently became among the few towns in the state to adopt some of its own codes around defensible space.

In an effort to make homes less fire prone, new homes in Sisters have to come with a buffer between the home and any flammable vegetation on the property. Next, leaders in Sisters hope to adopt building code standards that further protect homes from fire, including the use of certain materials that resist fire. The debate on whether those materials will increase the cost of building a home is raging; some say they’ll raise the cost of a new home by thousands, while others say those materials may actually cost less. Developers say their margins are already tight, and any additional cost is going to be something they’re likely to oppose. However, will it be more costly to rebuild a community where fire-resistant materials were abandoned, all to increase developer profit?

In any case, this is where we are at now: Local control, with a patchwork of local rules around fire risk. City and town leaders who now have the political audacity to push through with home hardening and defensible space standards, such as Sisters is beginning to do, are going to lay the groundwork for more fire-resilient neighborhoods in their towns.

Elsewhere, residents may be on their own — perhaps taking steps to create defensible space and harden their own homes, all while battling rising insurance rates and watching their neighbors stick their heads in the sand and do nothing.

But hey, at least the state isn’t telling you what to do.

This article appears in Source Weekly July 10, 2025.