SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – Eugene-Springfield Fire held a controlled burn exercise Tuesday off Virginia Avenue in Springfield.

The burn pile served dual purposes for the department. It reduced wildfire risk while providing hands-on training to young firefighters.

“This is for wildfire risk reduction efforts,” said Hannah Shafer, wildfire planning and fuels management manager. “There were some trees and vegetation that was removed from this property. So this is just one way to kind of reduce that vegetation and reduce fire risk in the area.”

Eugene-Springfield Fire warned a dry winter with little snowpack will allow fires to spark earlier this year. The department urged residents to mitigate risks on their properties.

“Springtime is a great time to kind of get outside and reduce some of that vegetation on your property,” Shafer said. “We like to recommend really focusing on the first zero to five feet around your home to create a buffer so that if any embers or fires were to reach that area, it wouldn’t spread to your home.”

The burn pile also served as a training exercise for participants from the Northwest Youth Corps. Young adults learned directly from fire crews and practiced hands-on training exercises.

“This trains them, this gives them skills,” Shafer said. “It also helps us teach them and gives us more career availability in the future.”

The Northwest Youth Corps has operated in Eugene for more than 40 years, providing youth and young adults with valuable job training.

“So it’s a really good thing for this area because there is not a big workforce in the wildfire risk reduction area,” Shafer said.