A sign about power line insulation is displayed at a wildfire risk reduction forum hosted by Pacific Power on Tuesday at The Expo in Central Point. About 75 people attended, with several people voicing concern about company tree trimming practices that left woody debris behind.

Pacific Power customers turned out last Tuesday at The Expo in Central Point to hear company representatives update them on wildfire safety issues, but several audience members updated the company about their dissatisfaction with its tree-trimming practices that left woody debris behind.

“My property is a bonfire pile,” one of several speakers said during a Q&A.

“They left a lot of problems,” another woman said, referring to tree trimmers. “It’s not firesafe, and we’re running out of time.”

“You’re creating a big hazard by putting all that slash on the ground,” another man said.

In response, company spokesman Simon Gutierrez urged concerned persons to contact the company’s vegetation management program or company customer service, but the next day replied with a more detailed statement:

“Brush piles are typically left when the work being conducted is greater than 100 feet from a road where a chipper can be safely used,” Gutierrez wrote in an email. “The piles are made to be flat with the ground, which is in line with (Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service) best practices.

“In terms of wood from felled trees, our contractors will leave this wood in manageable lengths ranging from 6 feet to 8 feet long. This wood is the property of the home or property owner.”

If customers contact the company, a work plan can be developed to deal with issues, he said.

Tuesday’s meeting, dubbed “Pacific Power’s Wildfire Customer Forum,” served to highlight the company’s investments in weather monitoring and forecasting and advances to improve equipment, including tougher insulation around wires and quicker automatic shut-offs should a line break.

Gutierrez said a line can be de-energized “within fractions of a second.” About 75 people attended the two-hour event, held in the Mace Watchable Wildlife Center. Emailed invitations were sent to customers in Medford and surrounding areas.

The Oregon Public Utility Commission requires that the company hold in-person forums to share details about its wildfire mitigation plan, according to Gutierrez, who said the forums were a great opportunity to get feedback from customers and make them aware of company investments to keep communities safe.

“We’re here to talk about wildfire mitigation,” Gutierrez told visitors, pointing out that the company is spending close to $2 billion for fire mitigation over five years in the six states where it operates.

Nine forums are planned around the state this year.

Highlights from the forum included the following:

• Company meteorologist Chester Lampkin said more frequent and extreme wildfires can be expected and that Pacific Power has five meteorologists to monitor and forecast weather, including wind, snow and ice in the winter and fire weather in the summer.

“Hot, windy, dry weather, those are three big things,” Lampkin said. Last winter’s snow was “decent,” an important factor in delaying the start of fire season, he said.

The company uses modeling based on 30 years of observations.

• Megan Buckner, a company fire mitigation program director, said power shutdowns might occur more frequently in certain areas of high risk, including areas flanking the Bear Creek drainage.

In answer to a question, she said putting lines underground was cost-prohibitive in most cases. Regarding vegetation management, she said the company was cutting more trees to reduce the chances they could fall into or otherwise impact power lines.

• Nora Yotsov, a company emergency management director, urged customers to update contact info so the company can alert them if power is to be shut off as a precaution.

“It’s really important for us to connect with you,” she said.

The company contacts customers in advance of possible shutdowns, with direct notifications typically coming days in advance and multiple times thereafter.

Pacific Power has had only one formal public safety power shutoff, in September 2022, when 11,993 customers had their power shut off in Lincoln, Polk, Tillamook, Linn, Marion and Douglas counties, with the average outage lasting 21 hours.

When Yotsov asked how many in the audience had an emergency plan should wildfire threaten, about six people raised their hand. And when she asked how many had a kit, such as a “go kit,” packed, about a dozen indicated they did.

State Rep. Pam Marsh, an Ashland Democrat who represents southern Jackson County, urged anyone with unresolved issues to contact her office by email at Rep.PamMarsh@oregonlegislature.gov.

To contact Pacific Power, call customer service at 888-221-7070 or email the company’s vegetation management team at VegetationMgmtPacCor@PacifiCorp.com.

The company’s wildfire mitigation plan can be viewed at bit.ly/4asBjUl.