May 2026 Sunriver Scene - Flipbook - Page 31
There's still time to get your yard, home ready for wildfire season
By Jim Bennett
May is a wonderful time
in Sunriver with the weather
starting to warm and the prospects of summer just around
the corner.
Last month, we discussed the
early steps of getting your yard
and home ready for wildfire
season. Our lack of precipitation this year makes this even
more important with our forests
likely drying out sooner, higher
elevation snowpacks melting
earlier and generally early season dry conditions. We discussed inspecting your yard for
leftovers from winter that can
impact fire safety. This included
forest debris, dead plants, trees,
downed branches and more. If
you haven’t already done so,
now is the time to take action.
We are fortunate to have our
annual FireFree yard debris
drop-off days in May. It kicks
off on Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2 from 8 a.m. to 4
p.m. at the Sunriver compost
site (aka Lake Penhollow),
18305 Cottonwood Road.
If those dates don’t work,
there are other opportunities
including May 15 to May 24 at
Knott Landfill in Bend or June 5
to June 13 at the La Pine Transfer Station. Visit projectwild
fire.org/events/ for hours and
additional information.
When talking fire prevention
outside our homes, we generally
look at it from two important
views, home hardening and
Ladder Fuels Reduction.
Home hardening is all about
what you can do to reduce
combustible materials on or immediately around your home as
well as reducing those smallest
of areas where burning embers
may enter and cause a fire in
your home.
As mentioned last month –
and discussed every year – it
is those perfect little beds of
combustible materials like dried
leaves, pine needles and other
forest debris that when a burning ember lands on them the
nest of debris quickly ignites.
Cleaning gutters, roof valleys,
areas around chimneys, piles of
Drop off your debris for free at the Sunriver compost site.
debris in the corners of decks of needles and other debris does
and more is a critical part of not go right up to the siding.
Keeping at the minimum
preventing the spread of fire to
6 inches of space between the
your home.
Are there other areas where ground and siding is important
floating embers can get into to keep fire which, when on the
your home’s structure, walls or ground, can superheat the soil,
roof? Look for exposed holes roots and forest debris bringing
(which can also be a great access it right up to the foundation.
In the event of nearby fires,
point for rodents) up near the
you
will certainly want to close
roof line and close or mesh as
your doors and windows to
appropriate.
Check out the chimney (best keep smoke and ash out, espeto have a professional and cially in windy conditions.
Now is the perfect time to
avoid the dangers of being on
the roof ) for an appropriate check the seal around all of your
spark arrestor, recommended doors and windows. Also, don’t
by a professional as well as any forget the seals around garage
other areas of the chimney that doors which – over time –can
have holes which could allow become worn and damaged.
Ladder fuels are plants, tree
embers in or out. Make sure to
branches,
combustible materials
close
the
flue
when
the
fireplace
as “Lieutenant Rupert.”
and
other
items that can aid a
The community should is not in use.
As you walk around your fire by moving from the ground
know a deputy will never call
house,
make sure the forest floor up into the tall shrubs, trees
to ask for payment, request
your financial information or
threaten arrest if you don’t pay.
Community members who
receive suspicious calls are encouraged to:
• Verify the legitimacy of any
law enforcement contact by
calling non-emergency dispatch
GIVE NEW OWNERS TIME TO SETTLE IN BEFORE SUMMER.
at 541-693-6911.
• Report the scam attempt
to the FBI’s Internet Crime
Complaint Center at IC3.gov.
• Share this information with
friends, family, and vulnerable
community members who may
be targeted.
No victims have reported
financial losses at this time, but
this type of scam is designed
55815 LOST RIDER LOOP | BEND
to pressure individuals into
4
BD | 4 BA | 2.343 SF | .47 AC | $899,500
making quick payments, and
even a single incident can cause
CO-OWNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY
significant harm.
Sheriff's office alerts public to
fake calls impersonating deputies
The Deschutes County
Sheriff’s Office is alerting the
community about an active
phone scam in which callers
impersonate deputies with the
sheriff ’s office and attempt
to convince victims to pay
bogus fines.
Over recent weeks, deputies
have responded to multiple
reports of residents receiving
fraudulent calls from individuals claiming to be with the
sheriff’s office.
The callers use phone number spoofing to make the call
appear legitimate.
They then falsely claim that
the recipient has missed a court
date or faces criminal charges,
and demand payment to freeze
or delay legal action.
These scammers even use the
names of real sheriff ’s office
employees, but they often get
key details wrong, including
referring to Sheriff Ty Rupert
and even treetops. As you can
imagine, a fire that has reached
the treetops is unimaginably
dangerous and likely aggressive
in its burning. Walk your yard
and imagine if there was a fire
going through that was near
the ground, maybe burning
through pine needles, small
shrubs and grasses; what would
take that fire from the ground
up into a tree or tall shrub?
Many times, it is limbs too
close to the ground. Sometimes they are live limbs, which
can certainly still burn, or
dead and dry limbs that can
ignite quickly.
Are there shrubs below your
trees that if they were to ignite
would easily burst flames upward into the lower branches
of a tree?
We will continue to discuss
what you can do to best protect
your home and the forest surrounding your home, but in the
meantime get those assessments
done and take action.
SROA provides two great selftests on home hardening and
ladder fuels reduction, check
them out at www.sunriverowners.org/propertypreparedness.
Have a safe and yard-ready
start to the summer!
–Jim Bennett is the public
information officer for the
Sunriver Fire Department.
Spring Listing Season
Starts Here
63204 NW RED BUTTE COURT
56887 DANCING ROCK LOOP #15B
3 BD | 3 BA | 2,370 SF | .11 AC | $799,000
7 BD | 8.5 BA | 4,524 SF | $399,000
BEND
BEND
ANNIE WAYLAND
Annie Wayland
HOMES
Broker
Sunriver Director &
State Representative, CEAR
541-280-3770
Sunriver Village Building#23
anniewaylandhomes.com
Licensed Broker in the State of Oregon.
Each office is independently owned and operated.
MAY 2026 SUNRIVER SCENE
Page 31
