Wildfires are no longer confined to remote landscapes; they have become an increasingly significant hazard for communities in the wildland-urban interface. The overall risk of wildfires is growing across the Northwest. 

EWEB is responding to this threat by making strategic investments to mitigate wildfire risk, improve electric system resiliency, and ensure year-round wildfire readiness.

Wildfire readiness means having the people, systems, infrastructure, and procedures in place to reduce wildfire risk, prepare for fire events, respond effectively when fires occur, and recover safely afterward.

Wildfires threaten EWEB assets, operations, and customers on a near-annual basis. To address this threat, the utility is testing new equipment, leveraging technology, and incorporating third-party expertise to bolster the electric system's resilience against a range of hazards, including wildfires.

EWEB is modernizing electrical equipment to reduce the risk of ignition and speed outage detection and response times. Some of these projects include rebuilding overhead electric equipment in areas with dense tree canopy, steep terrain, and limited egress. Replacing older wire, including copper wire, which becomes brittle with age and increasingly prone to failure; and replacing aging power poles.

Many of these projects are grant-funded.

EWEB adjusts to "Wildfire Safety Settings" in high-fire-risk zones when the wildfire threat is heightened, modifying electrical switches and relays. Like a circuit breaker in your home, the switch senses when trouble occurs, such as a tree branch falling on the line, and shuts off the power. We will not re-energize the line until we visually inspect it and confirm with public safety partners that there is no fire in the area.

Consequently, these measures may result in more frequent and prolonged outages.

Public Safety Power Shutoff

A Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) is an operational practice an electric utility may use to help prevent wildfires from starting or spreading during extreme and dangerous weather conditions. A PSPS means EWEB will proactively shut off power in high-risk areas until weather conditions improve, and it is considered a last resort to help protect public safety.

EWEB prunes over 500 miles of overhead lines each year to minimize the risk of falling trees and branches during high wind events. We prune trees and shrubs to prevent contact with power lines. 

EWEB uses satellite technology and artificial intelligence to pinpoint where vegetation management is needed most.

EWEB has two weather stations. One in East and West Eugene supports custom, localized weather forecasting. EWEB also partners with agencies like The Oregon Hazards Lab and WatchDuty to use AI-supported wildfire cameras for early detection.

Situational awareness during fire season includes monitoring weather for high winds and low humidity, modifying fieldwork practices to be more fire-aware, bringing fire-suppression equipment to every work site, and increasing coordination with public safety partners when crews are working in areas with high fuel loads.

Every year, EWEB hosts the Oregon Department of Forestry for wildfire seasonal training and equipment inspections.

EWEB’s High Fire Risk Zones are based on a combination of third-party risk modeling analysis and the on-the-ground experience of electric system operators and local fire agency professionals. EWEB will continue to refine and update our risk maps over time. 

This HFRZ map focuses mitigation activities and investments on areas with the greatest risk reduction benefits.  It shows where EWEB equipment is placed in "wildfire safety settings" mode to reduce the risk of utility equipment igniting during wildfire season, as well as where a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) is most likely to be used during extreme fire conditions, such as Red Flag Warning events. Please use the EWEB Outage Map to view current power outage locations. 

All information presented on this map is approximate and subject to change. While we do our best to ensure the quality of the information, EWEB makes no guarantee as to its accuracy, completeness, or timeliness.