District Description Molalla Rural Fire Protection District #73 (MRFPD #73) is an Oregon special service district that provides fire suppression, prevention, investigation, public education, rescue, and ambulance transport services. MRFPD #73 is approximately 101 square miles with an ambulance service area (ASA) of 350 square miles covering a portion of the neighboring fire agencies and wilderness.

The District operates from three stations: Station 82, the headquarter station in the city of Molalla; Station 81, four miles to the north on Highway 213 near the small community of Mulino; and Station 85, five miles south on Sawtell Road.

Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) The Molalla Rural Fire Protection District #73 is a rural area on the eastern edge of Clackamas County adjacent to large tracts of federal, state, and private forests. The terrain is steep, causing access and communication limitations. The Molalla River Corridor attracts thousands of visitors every year. Campers, hikers, anglers, All Terrain Vehicle users, hunters, and other visitors to this area can potentially start wildfires that could carry from public land to the residential communities.

This area is characterized by rural residential homes surrounded by heavy fuels and steep slopes. In addition, many of the neighborhoods have only one way in and one way out with narrow, steep driveways and poor address signage. Heavy and continuous fuels dominate this area, so fires that begin on public land or on smaller private residential lots can quickly threaten the communities and natural resources that thrive in the Molalla Fire District. In addition, the City of Molalla is growing rapidly, and increases in residential development paired with large tracts of unmanaged industrial land is increasing the fire risk in urban, WUI areas. This has already led to several large fires and evacuation orders issued each year since 2018.

The Bureau of Land Management, private industrial landowners, and small woodland owners have many heavily forested landholdings that are adjacent to homes in the Wildland Urban Interface. As Molalla Fire targets the residential communities for creating defensible space, there is an opportunity to engage private, state and federal partners in reducing fuels on this adjacent public land. This has been identified as an action item.

Structural Ignitability Molalla Fire promotes the creation of defensible space, use of fire-resistant roofing and building materials, and community preparedness in the WUI. Molalla Fire works with the City of Molalla and Clackamas County to integrate these concepts at the regulatory level by providing input on access and water requirements for new development.

The City of Molalla contracts with Clackamas County for land use planning and building permit services. This presents some difficulties for the Fire District because the County does not always contact the District for input on fire flow and access for new lots of record. The need for enhanced communication between Clackamas County and Molalla Fire has been noted in the Molalla Fire Action Plan.

Emergency Response Emergency response is challenging in the Molalla Rural Fire Protection District #73 because staff are almost entirely volunteer (36 total), with only 16 paid staff. A major wildland urban interface fire in Molalla would quickly exceed the resources and capabilities of the District. For this reason, Molalla Fire has mutual aid agreements in place, which allow for the sharing of resources across the county in the event of a large-scale disaster such as a wildfire.

Although the District is able to support annual wildland fire training (S-130 and S-190), it would like to offer S-215 and S-290 to senior staff. Also, the lack of live fire experience makes it difficult to retain wildland qualifications. Molalla Fire is working directly with Northwest Association of Fire Trainers, USFS, ODF, and other land managers to identify and take advantage of opportunities to participate in live fires.

Because Molalla Fire does not have a hydrant system that extends to rural areas, it is important to begin identifying and improving potential water sites. This is especially important for homes that have long narrow driveways that will not support water tenders. ODF has been working with Molalla Fire to improve address signage in many of the most vulnerable areas and potential water sites could be added to these signs. While ODF has paused this program as of this plan update, Molalla Fire is continuing to offer address signage for residents and will install signs by request for a small fee.

In the event of a large wildland fire, evacuations may be necessary. This rural area presents some difficulties due to the large number of one way in and one way out roads with poor addressing. Molalla Fire has been working with ODF to improve address signage in vulnerable areas and will continue to work with the Clackamas Wildfire Collaborative to implement address signage in the Communities at Risk. More coordination and outreach are also needed to ensure that evacuation procedures are developed and understood.

Burning of yard waste and debris is challenging in the District because backyard burning is allowed in all areas. Molalla Fire tries to be consistent with neighboring jurisdictions’ Backyard Burning programs but does not have staff or resources to strictly regulate burning in Molalla. The District is also home to many Christmas tree operations that have authority to burn an incredible amount of material all year long regardless of fire severity or air quality restrictions. Molalla Fire would like to work with ODF to develop a better strategy for dealing with Christmas tree waste such as a chipper cooperative.