Fire officials caution homeowners to have defensible space.Byline: The Register-GuardThough winds and warm weather played a major role in a fire Saturday that burned 50 acres throughout residential areas west of Eugene, fire officials say homeowners should take steps to keep their homes safe. No one was injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. and no homes were damaged Saturday, but Lane Rural Fire and Rescue Chief Dale Borland said fences and plenty of dry tinder made the blaze more difficult to knock down. "In these sorts of areas, folks need to have a very defensible space Defensible space is a concept first proposed by the architect Oscar Newman and developed further by Alice Coleman. It is the idea that crime and delinquency can be controlled and mitigated through environmental design. ," he said. Homeowners should eliminate wood piles piles: see hemorrhoids. and shrubs, keep lawns and fields well-watered and mowed and beat back the blackberries, Borland said. Another tip: Trimming trees throughout the property also keeps flames from leaping between branches. The cause of the fire was unknown Saturday night, but during fire season - which remains in effect until fall rains begin - it doesn't take much to spark a conflagration, Lane County sheriff's Deputy Kerry Boggs said. "Anything can be the cause, from a cigarette butt to someone parking on the side of a road - catalytic converters catalytic converter: see internal-combustion engine. catalytic converter In automobiles, a component of emission control systems used to reduce the discharge of noxious gases from the internal-combustion engine. and grass can cause fire," he said. Kathy Nichols, whose back fields off Spires Lane were blackened black·en v. black·ened, black·en·ing, black·ens v.tr. 1. To make black. 2. To sully or defame: a scandal that blackened the mayor's name. 3. in Saturday's blaze, said she will never allow dry grass near her home again. "The whole pasture pasture, land used for grazing livestock. Land unsuited for cultivation, e.g., hilly or stony land, may be used as pasture. Tilled land and meadow may be pastured after the crops are removed. is going to be tilled; it's never going to be like this," she said. - Andrea Damewood |
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