Southern Oregon Rebuilding Smarter after Almeda Fire

By Isobel Charle, Public News Service

Five years after the Almeda fires destroyed more than 3,000 homes and businesses in southern Oregon, the cities of Talent and Phoenix are prioritizing energy efficiency, affordability, and wildfire resilience as they rebuild.

Phoenix worked with Energy Trust of Oregon to build a new energy-efficient public safety building to replace facilities lost in the 2020 wildfire. The 20,000-square-foot hub houses city offices, police and fire services.

Eric Swanson, Phoenix city manager, said with the help of local, state and federal partners, the city has been able to make the best out of a tragic situation.

“We’ve been able to take advantage of a lot of energy-efficiency initiatives in our building, which I think has really set us up well for the future. We’re planning for the worst, hoping for the best,” he said.

The building’s energy-efficiency measures, including efficient lighting, HVAC systems and stormwater management, are expected to save thousands of dollars annually. Swanson said residential reconstruction in the city is largely complete, although rebuilding of mobile homes and commercial buildings has been lagging behind.

Talent, Oregon, is just south of Phoenix and lost 700 homes in the fire.

Michael Hoch, measure development manager with Energy Trust of Oregon, said his organization helped with the rebuilding process there.

“We lost 40% of our town,” he said. “That building stock was a lot built in the ’60s or the ’70s. How do we try to encourage people to build back better, to build more resilient, to build with energy efficiency top of mind?”

He added that the city partnered with Energy Trust to create the Energy Performance Scores rebuild program, which incentivizes wildfire victims to rebuild their homes to be more energy efficient and wildfire resistant, and added that residents are happy with the results.

“It’s always lovely getting a text from one of them saying, ‘Hey, I’m not paying any energy because I’m producing more solar energy than I’m consuming,’ or, ‘Hey, my energy bill is still pretty low,'” he continued.