EWEB begins cutting down dead trees to reduce wildfire risk
As the weather turns sunny and dry, crews with the Eugene Water and Electric Board have begun cutting down trees and plants in the city and more rural areas to prevent downed power lines and potential wildfires.
Aaron Orlowski, a spokesperson for EWEB, discussed the publicly owned utility’s plan Monday afternoon on Fox Hollow Road, where contractors were trimming a dead tree. The workers carefully maneuvered in a cherry picker between the power lines to reach the dead trees.
“This one coming down looks pretty sick and diseased, and it’s dead, so it’s both at risk of falling on a power line and it’s drier so it’s more likely to catch fire,” he said.
After cutting down several segments, workers drag them to a wood shredding machine, while another worker flags through cars on the road where one lane is blocked off.
When choosing trees to cut down, EWEB focuses on felling ones closest to power lines, especially if they are dry and dead, Orlowski said.
EWEB trims 300 power line miles of vegetation each year, along with inspecting and pruning additional 250 miles and proactive maintenance of more than 725 miles, Orlowski said.
So far the focus has been on the south Eugene hills, the McKenzie River Valley, and closer to downtown when trees get too close, Orlowski said. Although this has been a rainy spring so far, EWEB’s trimming season has been starting increasingly early over the years as the climate becomes drier.
Trimming trees is one the components of EWEB’s wildfire mitigation plan, and the utility has set aside $1 million from its 2022 budget for wildfire mitigation activities.
EWEB plans to submit its wildfire mitigation plan to the utility’s board of commissioners in June, and those plans are newly required under state Senate Bill 762 for consumer-owned utilities.
Over the next two to three years EWEB plans to invest in areas where fire risk is the highest, Orlowski said, which includes putting more lines underground, such as one project planned for the area south of Spencer Butte Middle School. EWEB recently finished a project in the South hills to put more than a mile of power lines underground, which used FEMA hazard mitigation funds, Orlowski said. He noted that putting power lines underground is one of the more expensive options, and that roughly 50% of the city’s power lines are already underground.
Other fire mitigation techniques can include switching to poles made of more fire-resistant materials, Orlowski said.
Louis Krauss covers breaking news for The Register-Guard. Contact him at lkrauss@registerguard.com, and follow him on Twitter @LouisKraussNews.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene utility cutting down trees to mitigate Oregon wildfire risk
