Hoodland Fire District

District Description Hoodland Fire covers 45 square miles of rugged foothills southwest of Mount Hood, along Highway 26, between Sandy and Government Camp, in historic east Clackamas County. Hoodland Fire protects the rural communities of Marmot, Cherryville, Brightwood, Wemme, Welches, Zig Zag, Rhododendron, and Government Camp from three fire stations. This rural area depends on a staff of 11 career and 30-40 volunteer firefighters that are dedicated to respond and provide quality fire and life safety protection to the community. Hoodland Fire responds to about 1,000 emergency calls for assistance from our 6,000 permanent and 15,000 seasonal residents.

Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) This area is an excellent example of the Wildland Urban Interface because it is characterized by steep slopes with residential homes surrounded by heavy fuels. In addition, the Mount Hood National Forest surrounds many of the communities, as do industrial timber management operations and some Bureau of Land Management land. Many of the neighborhoods have only one way in and one way out with narrow, steep driveways and poor address signage. Heavy and continuous fuels dominate this area, so fires that begin on public land or on smaller private residential lots can quickly threaten the communities and natural resources that thrive in the Hoodland corridor.

Tourism and recreation are also major influences here, with thousands of Portland area residents travelling along Highway 26 to access the Mount Hood National Forest. Campers, hikers, hunters, and other visitors to this area can potentially start wildfires that could carry from Forest service land to the residential communities. Industrial and federal forest operations are also potential ignition sources.

Structural Ignitability Hoodland Fire promotes the creation of defensible space, use of fire-resistant roofing and building materials, and community preparedness in the WUI. Hoodland Fire participates in land use reviews for new development to provide input on access and water supply. The Clackamas County Planning Department uses a WUI checklist developed in 2005 to ensure that Fire Marshals are contacted when potential issues may arise for new development. In areas zoned Forest/Agriculture, the County’s Zoning Development Ordinance (ZDO) has guidelines for fire-resistant building materials and defensible space and fuel breaks.

Emergency Response Hoodland Fire professionals have experience in structural and wildland fire response tactics, with a large percentage of staff having spent years as wildland firefighters. Hoodland Fire works closely with the United States Forest Service and Oregon Department of Forestry and neighboring Sandy Fire District (which is currently contracted with Clackamas Fire District to provide service) to prevent and provide quick response to fires in this area. Hoodland is a signatory to the Clackamas Fire Defense Board Mutual Aid Agreement, which allows for the sharing of resources across the county in the event of a large-scale disaster such as a wildfire. Although Hood River County is along the eastern border of Clackamas County, USFS land separates these two counties in this location. This has created a barrier to Hoodland Fire’s ability to participate in the Hood River County Fire Defense Board Mutual Aid Agreement. This need has been identified and prioritized in the Hoodland Fire District Action Plan.

Community Outreach & Education Hoodland Fire is dedicated to fire prevention and uses a variety of forums to promote defensible space, fire-resistant building materials, and safe burning practices. The community of Government Camp has an Annual Community Clean Up event to create defensible space for six years running, which the District supports by providing technical assistance to landowners in determining how and why to create defensible space. In addition, Hoodland Fire has provided an incentive to participate by paying for the chipping costs associated with the cleanup and recently received a $75,000 Small Woodlands Grant from ODF to support Firewise communities in fuels reduction. To date, the District has used these funds to conduct 80 property assessments and has had 30 properties request reimbursement for fuels reduction projects on their land carried out by youth workers with local nonprofit AntFarm. The District also attends Homeowners’ Association (HOA) meetings to discuss structural and wildland fire safety three to four

Local Communities at Risk Hoodland Fire also recognizes that there are smaller-scale Communities at Risk or Strategic Planning Areas that have unique wildfire hazards to be addressed at the more local level. Communities that have been identified as being particularly vulnerable to wildfires are listed in Table 9-13. Hoodland Fire professionals considered the following factors to determine the local CARs including:

  • Need for defensible space.

  • Access limitations (narrow driveways, lack of address signage, one way in/one way out).

  • Steep slopes that can hinder access and accelerate the spread of wildfire.

  • Lack of water available for wildland fire fighting.

  • Heavy fuels on adjacent public lands.

  • Potential ignition sources from recreationists and transients.

  • Agricultural and backyard burning.

  • Lack of community outreach programs to promote wildfire awareness.

  • Communications difficulties.

Fuels Reduction Fuels reduction projects can and should be accomplished at the local scale by creating defensible space around homes, and at the landscape scale through vegetation treatments on adjacent forested land and natural areas. Estacada Fire will facilitate cooperation between public and private organizations to ensure that fuels reduction occurs strategically and benefits homeowners and adjacent public and private lands.

To ensure that landscape-level treatments are paired with projects to create defensible space around vulnerable communities, priority fuels reduction projects have been overlaid with the Communities at Risk identified by Estacada Fire.

Fuels Reduction Priorities Fuels reduction projects can and should be accomplished at the local scale, which is the creation of defensible space around homes, as well as at the landscape scale, which is the extension of vegetation treatments onto adjacent forested land and natural areas. Hoodland Fire will continue to facilitate cooperation between public and private organizations to ensure that fuels reduction work occurs strategically and benefits homeowners as well as adjacent public and private lands.

To ensure that landscape-level treatments are paired with projects to create defensible space around vulnerable communities, priority fuels reduction projects have been overlaid with the Communities at Risk identified by Hoodland Fire.

Fuels Reduction Priorities

  • Lolo Pass

  • Marmot

  • Barlow Trail

  • Brightwood

  • Government Camp Area

    Cherryville/Alder Creek

Hoodland Fire District Action Plan Hoodland Fire has developed a list of actions to build capacity at the District scale and has identified actions that can help to make the local CARS more resilient to potential wildfires. The action plan for Hoodland Fire and the local CARs therein is provided in Table 9-14.

Progress since 2018 Hoodland Fire, in partnership with ODF, has successfully created and implemented a home addressing program. Most homes in the district considered to be a CAR have received addresses signs. Additionally, Clackamas County Planning Division has added wildfire practices to its planning and building process, helping Hoodland Fire ensure that new developments are built in a way that reduces their risk to wildfire.

The District has completed the following action items from the 2018 CWPP:

  • 2018 Action Item: Work with the County to increase the usage of wildfire resistant building materials and home sprinkler systems through incentive programs (e.g., reduced permit fees).

  • 2018 Action Item: Complete home addressing in all local CARs.