The City of Bend is considering updating codes to require defensible space buffer zones around homes. The idea is to remove fuel sources near structures which can stop flames from advancing. There are three different zones around a home to consider when creating a defensible space: immediate, intermediate and extended. The National Fire Protection Association defines the Home Ignition Zone as everything out to 100 feet, or 200 feet if there’s a steep slope.
In a past interview with the Source, Melissa Steele, deputy fire marshal of Wildfire Preparedness for Bend Fire & Rescue, said 90% of ignitions from wildfires are embers which can travel up to 3 miles and land on a flammable bush right next to your home. Horticulturist Amy Jo Detweiler with Oregon State University Extension Service is an expert on best practices for fire resistant yards. The first 5 feet surrounding a house, the immediate zone, should have nothing that can catch fire, including plants, bark mulch or grass.
“It would just be hardscaping. You could have decorative rock, things like that,” Detweiler told the Source. “To create that buffer is what research shows is one of the best ways to protect your home and structures.” Hardscaping is the use of pavers, boulders, statues, non-flammable table or chairs — anything that adds design, but is noncombustible.
The intermediate zone, between 5 and 30 feet away from a home, can include grass mowed to 4 inches or less and some fire-resistant plants. Between 30 to 100 feet, the extended zone, the yard should be cleared of dead grass and vegetation with bushes and trees pruned. Experts say defensible space does not mean a home won’t catch fire, but it reduces the chances.
The type of plants also matters. Fire-resistant plants do not readily ignite and tend to produce fewer embers. Factors that influence a plant’s flammability include moisture content, age, total volume, dead material and chemical content. Most healthy deciduous shrubs and trees are fire resistant. Fire-resistant plants also tend to have branching patterns that are open and loose, little dead wood, minimal sap and leaves that are wide, flat, moist and supple. If using ground cover, choose plants with a higher moisture content.
Fire Resistant Plants:
“You don’t want to use ground covers that are just going to become invasive and continue to fill in an area, especially if they’re a little bit on the taller side, or perennials that recede, that are on the taller side,” Detweiler says. “You want to make sure it’s just going to be things that are going to stay in either groupings or berms and not create this continuum of fuel.”
Plants that are not recommended near homes include ornamental grasses, conifers and vines and dry, dead leaves. Also, branches should be trimmed off bushes and trees.
“A lot of the deciduous plant material, your shrubs and trees that drop their leaves in the fall tend to be more fire resistant,” Detweiler says. “Things that don’t have a strong odor to them, if you crush the leaves or the stem, tend to be more fire resistant.” She says plants and trees with a strong odor, like a pine tree, that have pitch, resin or oils will be more combustible and burn hotter and longer.
The spacing of plants is another important factor. If too close together, fire can spread among different-sized plants like a ladder into the tree canopy, which can lead windblown embers onto a roof. Fire-resistant plants can be included in the intermediate zone, 5 to 30 feet away from a structure.
“I think the most important thing I can emphasize for folks planting a tree is to think about mature size for that tree because when you buy it from the nursery, of course, it’s going to be small, and you’re not necessarily thinking about when this plant is 10 years down the road, how far out this branch is going to be, because you want to avoid getting to within 10 feet of the roof line of your home,” Detweiler advises.
Spacing of 10 feet or more is recommended between group plantings to allow space as plants grow. Avoid planting in rows which can create a continuous path for fire to spread. Conifers (cone-bearing trees with needle-like leaves) should not be planted next to a home, but if there are already established trees, create a minimum of 15 feet between tree branches and the roofline.
Another critical step to reducing fire hazards around a home is to clean gutters to remove fallen pine needles. Keeping plants well-watered and maintained is also important.
OSU Extension Service has a list of recommended fire resistant plants which can be found online or in a brochure at its office located at the Deschutes Fair and Expo Center in Redmond.
“Some of my favorites for our area, as far as ground covers go, would be any type of sedum. We have both native and nonnative sedum,” Detweiler says. “They have a high-level moisture content and attract our pollinators… You’ve got lots of choices as far as perennials go. You can use things like Agastache. Any of the Penstemon are a great choice.” Other examples of fire-resistant plants can be seen in the demonstration garden near the playground at Alpenglow Park off SE 15th Street south of Murphy Road in Bend.
This article appears in the Source April 2, 2026.
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