Union County Fire Protection Improves as More Landowners opt for Coverage. State Pushing for Further Annexation.

UNION COUNTY – In areas as sprawling and remote as Union County, deciding which fire station should respond to which emergency can be a logistical challenge. This is further complicated by the fact that, unbeknownst to some landowners, not every property in the county even legally falls within a fire protection district. During an emergency, the last thing anyone needs is a mix up on which agency is responding to what fire. Thankfully, Union County Emergency Service’s are pushing to bring more landowners into the fold and plan ahead for fire on unprotected lands.

Over the past year, Union County Emergency Management, in cooperation with the local fire districts, has been reaching out to unprotected landowners with instructions on how to voluntarily opt into an appropriate district. While entering into a fire protection district does equate to an increase in taxes due to paying for fire services, it makes the task of coordinating fire response much easier in addition to providing further funding for the corresponding fire department.

According to Union County Emergency Manager Nick Vora, the last ten months have seen a slow but steady volume of property owners, many of whom were unaware of their unprotected status, voluntarily enter the fire districts. During the Union County Commission Meeting on September 6, roughly four thousand acres of land were accepted for annexation between the La Grande Rural Fire Protection District and Cove Rural Fire Protection District, with the majority falling under Cove’s jurisdiction.

The push toward annexation isn’t the only safety improvement either. According to Vora, the county Fire Defense Board, which comprises all the local fire chiefs along with county emergency management, have already met to outline response and annexation protocols of unprotected lands. In essence, a plan is in place on which fire stations will respond to which unprotected properties during a fire and which protection districts those properties will be annexed into should the owners opt in. 

There is even a push at the state level toward full annexation of unprotected lands as outlined in Senate Bill 1068. The basic summary of the bill, as listed on the Oregon Legislative Website, reads, “Authorizes board of directors of rural fire protection district to annex to district, under certain circumstances, lands that are within coverage area of district.”

In effect, the bill establishes a process for fire stations to annex unprotected properties within seven road miles of their station. The seven-mile area is referred to as a “coverage area” and includes both lands protected in the district and unprotected. The process outlines how stations with overlapping coverage areas should coordinate annexations and how landowners are to be notified.

Note that landowners cannot be forcibly annexed into a protection district under normal circumstances and that annexation is itself free of any charge. However, the bill does state that unprotected landowners may be charged upwards of triple the standard rate for fire protection services should a fire occur. As stated on page two of the bill:

“After sending the notice and before consent from the owners is received, or more than 90 days after sending the notice if the district does not receive consent from the owners as described in paragraph (a) of this subsection within the 90 days, the district may decide not to protect the owners’ lands and, if the district provides services at the lands, may bill the owners at three times the cost of the services, as determined based on a state standardized-costs schedule approved by the State Fire Marshal.”

In addition, there are several criteria that will force a property to be annexed into an appropriate fire protection district. As stated near the bottom of page two of the bill:

“If a district identifies the coverage area of the district, subject to the provisions of ORS 478.010, the board of directors of the district shall annex to the district any lands that are within the coverage area of the district, but are not included in the district, when:

1. Ownership of the lands transfers;
2. A new structure subject to damage by fire is built on the lands;
3. A building permit that relates to the lands is issued; or
4. A land use decision, as defined in ORS 197.015, a limited land use decision, as defined in ORS 197.015, or a decision concerning a partition, as defined in ORS 92.010, or a subdivision, as defined in ORS 92.010, that relates to the lands is approved or issued.”

According to Vora, recent annexations have largely come down to unaware landowners simply being informed of their status and voluntarily joining a fire protection district, with little reaction to SB-1068 so far. Nonetheless, the information campaign, pre-planning by the Fire Defense Board and the annexation plans from the State Legislature all indicate a massive push toward a full annexation and the elimination of legal and logistical grayness caused by unprotected property.

The full bill can be read at https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB1068/Enrolled

Union County Landowners can find additional information and annexation instructions at https://union-county.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Fire-Protection.pdf

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Elkhorn Media Group