Safeguard Your Home With Defensible Space

Creating defensible space can help all Oregonians be prepared for wildfire season. 

A brick house with a brown roof, surrounded by lush green trees and a well-maintained grassy yard, under a clear blue sky.
A brick house with a brown roof, surrounded by lush green trees and a well-maintained grassy yard, under a clear blue sky.

Reduce or Eliminate the Things Around Your Property That Can Catch Fire.

Creating defensible space means reducing or eliminating the vegetation and materials around your home that can easily catch fire. This simple but important step helps protect your home, your neighbors, and the entire community from wildfire.

In partnership with the Oregon State Fire Marshal, free defensible space assessments are available to many property owners. These visits are education-focused and provide practical, personalized recommendations to help you start or improve your defensible space.

Defensible space programs are designed to support proactive wildfire prevention and empower Oregonians to take meaningful steps toward protecting their properties.

Depending on availability and location, some residents may qualify for assistance at no cost, potentially saving significant time and expense.

Residents in the Disston, Culp Creek, and Dorena areas are encouraged to reach out to learn more or apply for an assessment.

Assessments and defensible space assistance can be obtained from the Oregon State Fire Marshal website or Row River Valley Community Partnership.

Oregon State Fire Marshal Website
Row River Valley Community Partnership

FAQ’s

  • Defensible space is the buffer you create between your business or home and the grass, trees, shrubs, or any wildland area that surrounds it. Proper defensible space can slow or stop the spread of wildfire and help protect your home or business.

  • Defensible space offers your home or business protection from wildfire, and even small actions make a big difference. Embers are the leading cause of home loss during a wildfire. They can travel up to three miles ahead of the large flame front. Wellmaintained defensible space can increase your home’s chance of survival by 75%.

  • The Oregon State Fire Marshal and Row River Valley Community Partnership have resources on their website for homeowners to get started with defensible space.

    • We recommend breaking it up into small weekend projects in the spring, fall, and winter.

    • First, start at your home and work out from there. Remove combustible materials like dry leaves and pine needles from your roof, gutters, and eaves.

    • Next, move to the foundation of your home and make sure combustible landscaping like bark dust or mulch is not touching your home. Consider replacing combustible landscaping with bare dirt, gravel, or pavers.

    • Next, trim and limb bushes and trees so they are not touching your home. This does not mean you need to remove all the plants from your yard. Instead, give plants some space from one another. Consider removing tall brush from under
      trees and some of the lower limbs so fire on the ground cannot get into the tree canopy.

    • Continue moving outward from your home to give added protection from wildfire.

Learn more at OSFM