Frequently Asked Questions

Burning is only allowed between March 1 to the beginning of fire season and for two weeks after the end of fire season in the fall. A burn permit is required. Learn more

Ashland Fire and Rescue's business office is open Monday through Thursday 8 am to 4:30 pm except for legal holidays. Firefighters staff both fire stations 24 hours a day, seven days a week for emergency response.

All local Fire Districts are listed under "Fire Departments" and their email addresses are available via their websites.

The use of retail fireworks, sparklers, and sky lanterns is prohibited throughout the year within the City of Ashland. See Ashland Municipal Code 15.28-070(C). Ashland Fire and Rescue is asking residents to comply with the ordinance in an effort to reduce fires, injuries, and the risk to our city's natural resources.

The use of any spark producing item which causes a fire is always prohibited. You can be held financially responsible for fire damage and the costs of fire suppression caused by negligent use of fireworks.

There are three items commonly referred to as fireworks, but are considered "unclassified" items that Ashland residents may legally use:

• Smoke bombs
• Snakes
• Party poppers

Currently, there are no programs or grant funding available with the City of Ashland that help with the costs associated with dead tree removal. Ashland Fire & Rescue does offer free home wildfire risk assessments to evaluate your home for wildfire risk and help provide recommendations for ways to reduce wildfire risks. Not all standing dead or dying trees pose an imminent fire hazard. Many standing dead trees can be pruned or topped at less initial financial cost to reduce risks before the entire tree is removed. AF&R staff can provide recommendations in this regard.

Thank you for working to reduce wildfire risks around your home and neighborhood.

You can find a number of fire-resistant landscaping resources at Fire Adapted Ashland. Resources include: 

• Mulch: the Combustibility of Landscape Mulches

CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team. Our mission is to prepare citizens to respond effectively in disaster. CERT trains residents to prepare their families and neighborhoods to mitigate, respond to, and recover from disaster. Our goal is to strengthen our community and make it a more resilient neighborhood by neighborhood. Our motto is "Neighbors Helping Neighbors."

Are you ready to get involved? It's simple! Contact the CERT office via phone or email and we will get you enrolled in our next Basic Training Course. Upon completion of Basic Training, you are eligible to become a member. You may participate in CERT General meetings as a guest until you complete Basic Training.

See our CERT - Disaster Preparedness page for more details.

The term "Firewise" was coined in the early 1990s to identify the growing knowledge that landowners could use to reduce their wildfire risks.

The Firewise website is used by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for their Firewise USA® program, that "teaches people how to adapt to living with wildfire and encourages neighbors to work together and take action now to prevent losses". The Firewise USA® program is co-sponsored by the USDA Forest Service, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the National Association of State Foresters.

Firewise USA is a national program created by NFPA that addresses the risks to homes and communities from wildfire in the Wildland/Urban Interface (Often referred to as WUI). It encourages local community-based solutions for wildfire safety, with the goal of reducing home ignitions due to wildfire. The Firewise USA program emphasizes homeowner responsibility and provides the framework for education dissemination, community partnerships, and local actions that support community wildfire safety efforts.

Ashland Fire and Rescue is a working partner with our community to help establish and advise recognized Firewise USA program sites within Ashland. Learn more about our program.

Though we continually seek grant funding to help landowners with wildfire mitigation costs, there are currently no grants available from Ashland Fire and Rescue to remove or modify landscaping, remove dead trees, or for roof replacement.

Ashland Fire & Rescue does offer free home wildfire risk assessments to evaluate your home for wildfire risk and help provide recommendations for ways to reduce wildfire risks. Not all standing dead or dying trees pose an imminent fire hazard. Many standing dead trees can be pruned or topped at less initial financial cost to reduce risks before the entire tree is removed. AF&R staff and certified Wildfire Risk Assessment Program (WRAP) volunteers can provide recommendations in this regard.

There is a program through the City of Ashland Conservation Department called WaterWise that may have lawn replacement funds. The WaterWise Landscaping website is designed to inspire the creation of landscapes that incorporate native species (PDF) and other water-wise plants that are not only attractive, but capable of using less water than traditional lawns. It serves as a virtual demonstration garden that showcases examples from local residents as well as provides useful information and resources on water-efficient gardening concepts. The program assists with funding to remove your green-grassy area and replace it with drought-resistant landscaping.

(Important Note: There are a few plants/trees on the WaterWise website and the Native Plants list above that are fire prone and have restrictions as to where they can be newly planted within Ashland.)

Thank you for working to reduce wildfire risks around your home and neighborhood.

The brand and product name are needed to look up the fire rating of a professionally installed roof. We recommend you consult a professional roofer for determining the type and fire rating of an existing roof of unknown construction or specific materials used. Unfortunately, there is no roof that is completely "fireproof". However, with the proper assembly of fire-rated materials, homeowners can lessen the potential of a fire starting, slow a fire's spread, or extend the amount of time it takes for a home to ignite. A building's roof is extremely vulnerable to fire because it is the largest exposed horizontal surface area of your home. In a wildfire vulnerable area, use class A or B roofing materials.

Material Classification

Class A 

(This is the least combustible roofing material and the highest resistance to fire).

• Brick
• Concrete
• Tile
• Slate
• Clay
• Metal
• Asphalt
• Fiber-cement

Class B

• Some asphalt shingles
• Some membrane roof coverings
• Some Pressure-treated shakes and shingles

Class C 

(This is the most combustible roofing material and is much more vulnerable to fire).

• Most Membrane roof coverings
• Most Wood shakes and shingles
• Plywood
• Particle board

See Ashland Forest Resiliency for more information about any possible private-landowner grant funding for forested property.

When planning new additions to existing buildings, decks, patios, or detached accessory structures that would increase lot coverage by 200 square feet or greater (new lot coverage), including adding an additional floor; a landscaping inspection will be required. Simply replacing an existing deck or patio with the same footprint will not require a landscaping inspection.

The fuels reduction assessment and General Fuel Modification Area ( 18.3.10.100.B ) shall extend 30 feet from the furthest extent of the addition, deck or accessory structure, or to the property line, whichever is less.

The site inspection will assess and take into account the landscaping around the entire structure, not just the side for which the addition is taking place. The General Fuel Modification Area required in this situation shall extend 30 feet from the furthest extent of the addition, deck or accessory structure, as mentioned above.

Modifications may not be needed, may be small, or may be extensive depending on how the current landscaping is situated in regard to fire safety.

Please Note: AMC18.3.10.100.C.3 - For construction of buildings and decks requiring a General Fuel Modification Area, the establishment of the fuel modification area provided for in subsection 18.3.10.100.B shall be completed before bringing combustible materials onto the property.

The General Fuel Modification Area extends 30 feet to help establish a primary fuel break (defensible space) around the structure, which is the 30 feet of space immediately around the home. A secondary fuel break can extend as far as 130 feet to170 feet depending on the slope of the lot. Creating and maintaining these defensible space "zones" will reduce or eliminate ignition hazards presented by vegetation (by thinning fire prone trees, creating spacing between tree canopies, or removing and pruning trees, shrubs and dead vegetation).

As a landowner in the WHZ (Wildfire Hazard Zone), if nothing is done to change/modify the structures or the property, there is nothing that will be required of you from this ordinance. This ordinance will affect you if any of the following changes occur:

• Increase the square footage of a home, deck or accessory structure by more than 200 square feet OR build a new structure with more than 200 square feet of new lot coverage - You will need to comply with AMC 18.3.10.100.B.
• Build a new structure on a vacant lot that increases lot coverage more than 200 square feet.
• If you partition or subdivide your property, you will be required to prepare and implement a Fire Prevention and Control Plan which includes fuels reduction on all parcels.
• If you are replacing 50% or more of the roof, the roof is required be a non-wood, Class A or B fire-rated roofing material.

View and download "Requirements for Constructing Structures in the Wildfire Hazard Zone (PDF)." See section 18.3.10.100. For partitions of lots/subdivisions, owners will have to provide and implement a Fire Prevention and Control Plan detailing vegetation/fuels reduction, as appropriate. The PDF has information regarding "Requirements for Subdivisions, Performance Standards Developments, or Partitions."

If you are not making any changes to existing property, like creating an addition on your home or building a new structure over 200 square feet, this ordinance will not affect your landscaping. The ordinance only affects new construction over 200 square feet that is being permitted through the City's Planning and Building Departments. The vast majority of citizens won't be affected by this, though we encourage Ashland's residents to engage in preventative mitigation on their own or through our Firewise USA Communities program.

Some changes required during new construction will be that shake roofs are not allowed (would need to be replaced) and incorporating only low-flammability plants in the first 30-feet (depending on slope it could be a greater distance requirement). A secondary fuel break will be created from 30-feet up to 200-feet (if applicable) from all structures with spacing requirements for fire-prone vegetation.

Visit our Fire-Resistant Landscaping Best Practices page for more recommendations to adapt and maintain your property for wildfire, or check out the rest of our resources at Fire Adapted Ashland.

Not necessarily, but it may be in your best interest.

If an addition of 200-square-feet or more in new lot-coverage is created, a fire official will perform an inspection to determine if there is adequate defensible space around the entire structure. When inspecting the landscaping, there are a few things that will be assessed:

• Does your structure have established defensible space (a fire break), including a 30 foot buffer area that is free of fire-prone vegetation?
• Are trees properly pruned for fire safety?
  • Are all tree limbs pruned for 10 foot clearance from chimney openings?
  • Are flammable species of trees pruned for a minimum clearance of 10 foot above and away from the roof line and exterior walls?
• Are ladder fuels removed? Ladder fuels are vegetation that let fire transition from the ground into taller vegetation, usually trees. Ladder fuels are typically shrubs or lower tree branches.
• Is vegetation effectively spaced?
• Is fire-prone vegetation present?

If certain criteria are found upon inspection, removal or modification of some vegetation will likely need to be completed before construction can begin.

See our Wildfire Safety Ordinance page for further information.

The Wildfire Hazard Zone (WHZ) was expanded as part of the Wildfire Safety Ordinance approved on September 18, 2018.

No. Landowners who are being incorporated into the WHZ will not see a rise in taxes because of the WHZ expansion.

It was recommended that the Wildfire Hazard Zone (WHZ) be expanded to include all of the City of Ashland. Doing so enhances several elements of the fire safety strategy of the city. The Wildfire Hazard Zone was expanded on October 18th, 2018.

The City will now be able to regulate roof coverings to those appropriate for a community adjacent to and containing wildland fuels. Previously, within City limits, flammable wood product roof coverings were allowed outside of the WHZ.

The City is also able to now regulate landscaping profiles for new construction that lend themselves to low intensity fire behavior with far less fire-spread potential. Previously, vegetation that produces severe fire behavior and fire spread, such as juniper, cypress, and arborvitae, were allowed unrestricted outside of the WHZ.

Both roof coverings and hazardous landscape fuels were a major factor in the destruction of 11 homes in the 2010 Oak Knoll fire. Properties within wildfire hazard zones are often the only ones that qualify for hazardous fuel mitigation grants. Expanding the WHZ would allow more properties the ability to apply for grant funds to help with fuels reduction and creating defensible space.

There are two fire stations in Ashland. Fire Station 1 is located at 455 Siskiyou Boulevard and Fire Station 2 is located at 1860 Ashland Street.

The typical response between Ashland's two fire stations is divided between East and West of Mountain Avenue. Fire Station 1 responds West of Mountain Avenue, and Fire Station 2 responds East of Mountain Avenue

For response information regarding your particular address please call Ashland Fire and Rescue's business office at 541-482-2770.

Let us help you be better prepared for an emergency, visit our Emergency Preparedness page.