Re-Building Incentives Continue

More good news for wildfire survivors still rebuilding or contemplating rebuilding: Oregon homes and businesses damaged or destroyed by the 2020 wildfires can get financial help through a state and multi-county partnership. 

Oregon homes and businesses damaged or destroyed by the 2020 wildfires can get financial help through a state and multi-county partnership.

Eight counties and the Oregon Building Codes Division are coordinating a grant program for rebuilding costs. Examples include $2200 towards roofing, and $350 for ventilation.

Here’s a list of coverage areas, and amounts:

https://www.oregon.gov/bcd/laws-rules/Documents/20220120-fh-grant-incentives-tr.pdf

The main goal of this program is what has been increasingly known as  “fire hardening”.

Fire hardening describes steps that can be taken to make a home or business more resistant to damage from a wildfire, such as using materials for siding and/or roofing that resist ignition during a wildfire, installing fire resistant windows to protect openings, or using attic ventilation devices that help reduce ember intrusion.

Fire hardening, along with creating defensible space, decreases the likelihood that a nearby fire will ignite your structure, and it 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.

There’s good news too for those who are further along in their rebuilding. According to the grant, if someone has already started or finished their rebuilding efforts, they can still apply for over 6-thousand dollars in grant money. Information can be found at: https://www.oregon.gov/bcd/Pages/firehardening.aspx.

The eligible counties are Lane, Clackamas, Klamath, Douglas, Jackson, Lincoln, Linn, and Marion.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has outlined how the state of Oregon will allocate an unprecedented $422 million in disaster aid authorized last fall in the wake of wildfires.

Ever since this announcement, nonprofits and concerned citizens have been awaiting clarification. This last February, HUD specified that $367 million will go local communities’ “unmet needs” following the Labor Day 2020 wildfires.

The remaining $55 million will go toward wildfire mitigation.

“This substantial funding will help every community – regardless of race, income, or zip code – to take critical steps to rebuild their homes, their communities, and their lives after experiencing such a devastating loss,” said Senator Jeff Merkley.

Transparency, relief, rebuilding…this is music to our ears at CRT. And during the time it takes these grants to process, CRT will be here…as always, before, during, and after.