If your home or business was lost or damaged in a wildfire during 2020, you may be eligible to receive more than $6,000 in grant money for fire hardening of your home or business.
Jackson County and the Department of Consumer and Business Services, Building Codes Division have created a fire hardening grant program to help people affected by the 2020 wildfires. The program will provide money directly to home and business owners who receive a grant to help pay for fire hardening of a home or business that was damaged or destroyed in the 2020 wildfires.
What is fire hardening?
Fire hardening describes steps that can be taken to make a home or business more resistant to damage from a wildfire. These steps may include the following: using ignition resistant materials for siding and roofing, installing fire resistant windows to protect openings, or using attic ventilation devices that help reduce ember intrusions.
Why is fire hardening important?
Fire hardening, along with creating defensible space by maintaining vegetation and reducing combustible materials surrounding the home or business, decreases the likelihood that a nearby fire will ignite your structure and reduces the potential for damage.
Fire hardening makes the community more resistant to the spread of wildfire. By slowing down a fire, it may create additional time and opportunity for emergency responders to protect life and property threatened by the fire.
How do I participate?
Jackson County Development Services, Building Safety Division is administering the program through Jackson County’s Wildfire Resiliency Permit Center (WRPC). You can find more information on the program by visiting the program’s web page listed below. There you will find links to the application, the fire hardening improvements that qualify, and how much each fire hardening improvements may earn you. After the project is completed and the work verified, grant funds will be released and a check mailed to you for the amount you qualified for.
Applications are accepted several ways;
- in person at the WRPC, 808 West Main Street Medford. 541-774-3070
- by emailing the application to JCRebuild@jacksoncounty.org,
- by mailing a completed application to the Wildfire Resiliency Permit Center, or
- by completed an online application at https://www.oregon.gov/bcd/Pages/firehardening.aspx
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