Fire district seeks partners for air-curtain burner program; grant applications include Bynum, Wyden and Merkley

The Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District asked the city to consider partnering on site location, staffing and permit support for a proposed air curtain burner program during a May 13 workshop.

"So the best opportunity we have looking at that is we burn it and we get rid of it," the Fire Chief said, describing mobile trailer units (about 7-yard capacity) and a larger stationary 30-yard unit that the district would use to dispose of large woody debris and produce biochar for residents.

District staff said the program would include equipment (trailers, a skid steer and a burn unit), operations and training. The district reported it has applied for grant funding through the offices of Sen. Bynum and Senators Wyden and Merkley and said the equipment purchase is "just under $500,000." The district also said part of the program includes securing DEQ permits and that current permit costs have fallen to under $5,000 in many cases.

Councilors raised questions about DEQ air-quality permits, setbacks, zoning, community impacts and transport logistics. The district said needles and dense materials cannot be burned in the air curtain burner and that dumpsters or separate chipping programs would be needed to manage those materials. "We won't be able to provide that hauling service for them," the Fire Chief said; "we'll continue to look for grant opportunities for dumpsters."

City staff and councilors discussed potential municipal locations (recycling site, other city-owned parcels) and the need for staffing to operate a stationary unit. The district said trailer units can be brought into subdivisions and used near homes, while a stationary unit would be ideally located on gravel or noncombustible surfaces with appropriate setbacks.