Salem-Area Homeowners Are Running Out of Time as Fire Season Starts Early.

Wildfire Season Arrived Months Early in Oregon. Here’s What Salem-Area Homeowners Should Do Right Now.

Salem, United States – July 6, 2026 / Noosh Stump Removal and Landscape Restoration /

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Kris Rasmussen
Everbearing Services (on behalf of Noosh Stump Removal)
krasmussen@everbearingservices.com

Oregon’s Wildfire Season Started in March. For Homeowners in Salem and the Santiam Canyon, the Window to Prepare Is Closing.

With two significant fires already burning before peak season, Mid-Willamette Valley homeowners in mapped high-hazard zones face pressure from both wildfire risk and insurance companies that have been quietly dropping coverage.

SALEM, Ore. — July 2, 2026 — Oregon’s wildfire season arrived early this year. A Level 3 “Go Now” evacuation order forced residents out of La Pine in March, and on June 28 the Lyle Hill Fire broke out in Klickitat County, Washington, sending more residents fleeing as winds gusted across the Columbia River Gorge and smoke drifted into The Dalles.

Why 2026 Is Different

Oregon’s winter was the warmest on record. Snowpack across the Pacific Northwest collapsed to roughly one-third of normal, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The fuel that drives summer fires was dry and exposed months ahead of schedule.

State fire experts called the early start concerning at a May briefing with Gov. Tina Kotek. They warned the season could run into October. The National Interagency Fire Center projects above-normal wildfire potential across all of western Oregon and Washington by August.

The Risk Is Right Here

Oregon mapped about 106,000 properties as high-hazard Wildland-Urban Interface zones in January 2025. Many of those properties sit in communities that Willamette Valley residents know by name: South Salem, West Salem, Silverton, Stayton, the Santiam Canyon from Mehama to Detroit.

Senate Bill 762, passed in 2021, set a defensible space framework requiring homeowners in high-hazard zones to meet specific defensible space and building code standards. Most have never had a professional look at their property’s fire risk.

Homeowners Are Getting Denied, Not Just Charged More

Oregon homeowners paid 27 percent more for property insurance in 2026 than they did in 2020, according to the Consumer Federation of America. But for homeowners in high-hazard zones, the bigger risk is losing coverage entirely.

When an insurer drops a policy over wildfire risk, the homeowner has to find a new one, and increasingly cannot. State rules require at least two denials from private insurers before a homeowner can even apply to the Oregon FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort for people no standard company will cover. FAIR Plan leadership says demand keeps growing as wildfire risk increases across the state.

Insurers do not use Oregon’s state hazard map to make these decisions. State law prohibits that. They use their own private risk models instead, built by companies most homeowners have never heard of, and a property with no documented mitigation work scores poorly. Documented defensible space and home hardening can earn premium discounts of 5 to 15 percent with some carriers, but the bigger benefit is staying insurable at all.

What Homeowners Can Do Right Now

The five feet closest to the house matters most. Fire researchers call it Zone 0. Studies from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety show most homes in WUI fires ignite from wind-blown embers landing in vulnerable spots, not from a wall of flame arriving at the property line.

A homeowner can start this weekend:

Gutters and roof: Remove all debris. A pile of dry leaves in a gutter is an ember trap.
Five-foot perimeter: Pull combustible mulch away from the foundation and replace it with gravel.
Stored items: Move firewood, propane, and lumber away from the exterior walls.
Vegetation: Trim branches so none touch the house or hang over the roofline.
Dry brush: Cut back tall grass and shrubs within 30 feet of the structure.

This lowers risk but does not produce the documentation a homeowner needs when the insurance renewal arrives.

What a Professional Audit Covers

A wildfire readiness audit is an on-site review by a CWMS-certified professional. It covers every zone from the five-foot ember buffer around the house out to the 100-foot perimeter, along with structural failure points homeowners often miss: roof vent screens, eave conditions, siding materials, and deck vulnerabilities.

Every audit delivers six documented items:

Property Defense Snapshot Report: A photo-rich summary of the property’s current risk level, delivered within 48 hours.
Zone-by-Zone Photo Documentation: A dated CompanyCam record of all three defensible space zones, aligned to Oregon ODF and NFPA standards.
Home Ignition Risk Summary: A structural assessment covering roof materials, vents, eaves, siding, deck exposure, and windows.
Prioritized Action Plan: A written list of what to fix first, what can wait, and what Noosh can handle versus what requires another trade.
Wildfire Defense Education Guide: A plain-language guide explaining why each action matters and what the homeowner can maintain on their own.
Certification Documentation Package: A compiled folder formatted for insurance submission, IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home certification, and Oregon State Fire Marshal requirements.

The full package is delivered within five business days of the site visit and supports the IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home certification pathway, which State Farm, Farmers, and other major carriers accept as documentation of compliance.

The Window Is Open Now

The Santiam Canyon, the Eola Hills, the foothills above South and West Salem, and communities like Silverton, Stayton, Sublimity, and the corridor from Mehama to Detroit all sit inside or adjacent to mapped high-hazard zones. Homeowners in those areas who have not looked hard at their property risk are running behind.

Wildfire readiness audits are open for scheduling now across Salem, Keizer, Silverton, Stayton, the Santiam Canyon, and the surrounding Mid-Willamette Valley. To book, visit stumpspecialist.com or call 503-836-8815.

About Noosh Stump Removal

Noosh Stump Removal provides wildfire defense services for homeowners in the Salem and Mid-Willamette Valley area of Oregon. Services include wildfire readiness audits, defensible space creation, vegetation management, and home hardening. The team holds CWMS certification and brings 25 years of professional tree and land care to every property.

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