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The neighborhood is within a high-risk area, as spelled out in a new wildfire protection plan, where the edge of the city meets a more forested and wilder landscape.
Construction work sparked a fast-moving grass fire Wednesday, Aug. 12, in southeast Springfield that placed dozens of homes on alert that they be ready to evacuate.
The 16-acre fire started early Wednesday afternoon near Jasper and Mount Vernon roads on a Hayden Homes construction site, according to company regional director Brett Swanson.
“We understand how frightening a fire that close to homes can be, especially during dry summers and wildfire season,” Swanson said in an emailed statement to Lookout Eugene-Springfield.
“Our crew had water on site and was able to respond immediately,” he said. “We’re deeply grateful to the Fire Department for their quick work containing the fire before it reached any homes.”
The Lane County Sheriff’s Office issued a Level 1 “Be Ready” evacuation notice that lasted overnight. It applied to dozens of homes, according to spokesperson Sgt. Levi McKenny. The county’s evacuation map showed about 50 homes in the vicinity of the notice.
The spark was caused by crews cutting rebar, steel reinforcement rods typically embedded in concrete, according to Chief Mike Caven of Eugene Springfield Fire.
The Oregon Department of Forestry restricts industrial activity involving spark-emitting machinery in Lane County, currently barring certain operations between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. Those restrictions don’t apply within Springfield city limits, where the construction site is located, according to Caven.
Before firefighters stopped the fire, it was burning quickly in dry oak savannah grasses toward the Mount Vernon neighborhood.
According to the new Eugene-Springfield Community Wildfire Protection Plan, the neighborhood falls into the high-risk Bob Straub Parkway/Thurston Hills zone, where the urban edge meets forested foothills.
“While the community is relatively new and features more modern infrastructure, the proximity of homes to unmanaged vegetation, combined with limited buffer zones, creates a heightened risk of wildfire spread into developed areas,” the plan states. “Additionally, prevailing winds from the east can accelerate fire movement toward residential zones during extreme weather conditions.”
Hayden Homes has been building homes in its Woodland Ridge community since 2021, with nearly 170 houses built and another 180 to go, as of last summer.
In his statement, Swanson said that Hayden Homes takes “the safety of the communities where we build seriously,” and “being mindful of these conditions has always been a priority for us, and we will continue to ensure that care is reflected in our work going forward.”
