Eugene fire chiefs report quieter 2025 season so far, fuels-reduction program expands with grants

Fire Chief Dan Capen and Deputy Chief Travis Worthington updated the Eugene City Council on wildfire activity, mutual-aid deployments and the wildfire fuels-management program during the Sept. 17, 2025 work session. City officials said 2025 has produced fewer large conflagrations and burned acreage than 2024, while the city is expanding defensible-space assessments and fuels-reduction projects funded partly by recent grants.

The chiefs gave data on incidents and deployments and described technology the department is using. Chief Capen said Eugene–Springfield crews deployed to five out-of-area fires in 2025, with 19 members on those deployments for a total of 51 staff-days on the fire line. He told council the statewide conflagration tallies fell from 16 conflagrations and about 1.3 million acres in 2024 to seven conflagrations and roughly 128,000 acres in 2025 so far.

Deputy Chief Travis Worthington outlined the wildfire planning and fuels-management program, established in February 2024 with support from the community safety payroll tax. “The mission as we developed it, of that program is to, diminish wildfire risk by educating residents, assessing and improving defensible space, strengthening home hardening, reducing the hazardous fuels, and integrating wildfire planning into emergency management,” Worthington said. He reported 326 properties assessed to date and an expectation of about 500 assessments by the end of 2025; 57% of those property owners had already completed recommended corrections. He said crews and partners removed 35 cubic yards of vegetation from 15 properties in high-risk zones.

Chief Capen emphasized technology investments: the city is using AI-enabled wildfire cameras developed by the University of Oregon Hazards Lab and a first-response drone program, both aimed at earlier detection and more-informed initial responses. “Goal number 1, prevent the fire from ever happening. Goal number 2 is if it does, keep it small and keep it out of our community,” Capen said.

On grants and planning, Worthington said the department secured a $150,000 Community Wildfire Defense grant via the Oregon State Fire Marshal to support a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) annex; a separate $75,000 grant will expand fuels-reduction projects and prescribed-fire coordination. Worthington also cited Senate Bill 83 from the most recent legislative session as a tool that allows local jurisdictions to define their wildfire hazard maps.

Councilors asked about volunteer recruitment, equipment and mutual-aid coverage. Chief Capen said volunteer recruitment and retention are a regional challenge; many nearby districts now staff 24 hours a day with small crews and rely on mutual- and automatic-aid agreements. He said Eugene–Springfield Fire has 78 cross-trained firefighters available for statewide deployment and that state reimbursement for deployments has been reinvested in vehicles and equipment.

Worthington described evacuation planning improvements including updated, smaller-zone evacuation maps and an annex to the county plan; he said public engagement and elected-official briefings are scheduled with a target to adopt the CWPP annex in 2026. He also described partnerships with organizations such as EWEB, Rivers to Ridges and Northwest Youth Corps for targeted vegetation removal and outreach to seniors and low-income residents.

Ending: Councilors praised the department’s use of grants and new technology and asked for continued outreach to neighborhoods in the South Hills and other high-risk areas. The chiefs said they will return as work progresses on the CWPP annex and fuels-reduction projects.