Laserfiche WebLink
Fire Marshal Augsburger discussed prevention approaches being pursued by the department, <br />emphasizing in particular the department's educational efforts taken in partnership with other fire <br />suppression agencies, the distribution of educational brochures, various fire-free events at <br />different locations where information was provided to the public about fire prevention and making <br />homes less at risk of fire, articles on the department's efforts published by The Register-Guard, <br />and taking advantage of Fire Prevention Week in October to further get out the message. He <br />noted the potential of code changes that would provide for more fire-resistive building materials in <br />wildland zones and that would make addresses more visible in those areas. Fire Marshal <br />Augsburger said that the department had worked for many months to get the word out to citizens. <br /> <br />Deputy Chief Groves noted that department personnel were attempting to be more visible in the <br />south hills to raise consciousness about fire danger. <br /> <br />Deputy Chief Groves discussed the department's response capabilities and preparedness, <br />emphasizing the work done over the past ten years to upgrade equipment and enhance training to <br />reach the current level of preparedness. He noted that the department's lead in last year's <br />areawide wildland fire exercise, which used realistic fire spread modeling. Deputy Chief Groves <br />said that after the exercise, department staff agreed as to the necessity of updating the South Hills <br />Fire Plan, which has been done. He noted the many departments and agencies people that would <br />be involved if the need for that plan was triggered, and briefly overviewed the contents of the plan. <br /> <br />Deputy Chief Groves noted the department's involvement in mutual aid and automatic aid <br />agreements with other fire suppression agencies. He briefly described how those agreements <br />worked, depending on the size of the incident. He said the department continually assessed its <br />involvement in such agreements to ensure that the local community was well-served. <br /> <br />Deputy Chief Groves emphasized the department's level of preparedness and said the <br />department is reasonably ready to handle any problems that arise, in comparison to departments <br />of similar size, if the fire threat index increased significantly. <br /> <br />Chief Tallon invited questions and comments regarding the briefing. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner expressed appreciation for the presentation and expressed the wish the subject could <br />have been the topic of a work session before the summer. <br /> <br />Distinguishing between prevention in the form of voluntary fire hazard education and prevention in <br />the form of mandated code changes, Mr. Meisner noted the City's lack of jurisdiction over codes <br />outside its boundaries. He asked if the other local jurisdictions were contemplating similar <br />changes to their codes to reduce fire risk, given the potential of impact from fires in those areas <br />on Eugene. Fire Marshal Augsburger said that the County did not have the same codes, although <br />the County employed some minimum standards. That did not occur in a cooperative fashion. Mr. <br />Meisner said his concern was mainly focused on the contract areas, and suggested the possibility <br />that negotiations with the County and special districts could include a suggestion for the adoption <br />of similar codes. City Manager Jim Johnson clarified that the special districts lacked building code <br />requirements, but as the City developed its code provisions, staff would transmit them to the <br />County and strongly urge their adoption. Deputy Chief Groves added that the City received good <br />cooperation from Lane County Public Works regarding road standards, such as access standards <br />related to width and grade. <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 29, 2001 Page 2 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />