RUCH (AP) - More than 12,000 suburban or rural homeowners in Jackson County were asked this month to voluntarily fireproof their property as part of the Oregon Department of Forestry's new statewide program to reduce the wildfire risk to rural homes.

In addition, 30,000 Deschutes County property owners will be notified in April that their land has been classified as forestland-urban interface under a 1997 law that can make residents liable for $100,000 in firefighting costs if they fail to trim flammable grass, brush and trees.

"The intent of it is to raise the awareness level of the public and then shift some of that responsibility for fire protection to the homeowners themselves," says Rod Nichols of the Forestry Department.

State foresters estimate forestland-urban interface - woodsy areas on the outskirts of towns - cover 3.5 million acres and contain 250,000 homes. Many are occupied by residents new to Oregon or country living who don't understand the natural role of fire in the forests and who fail to take common-sense precautions.

Under Oregon's new fireproofing rules, homeowners will have two years to voluntarily certify that they've created a 30-foot firebreak around their homes by removing dead vegetation, trimming limbs that could carry fire onto the roof and mowing dry grass.

Oregon's new rules follow the lead of California, which in 1982 began classifying fire hazard zones and in 1991 began requiring fuel breaks, greenbelts, private water sources and brush-free driveways accessible to emergency vehicles.

The steps came after the Oakland/Berkeley Hills tunnel fire in October 1991, which killed 25 people and damaged or destroyed 2,900 structures.

California officials outlawed the sale of wooden roofing and included fines of $100 to $500 for homeowners who don't fireproof their homes.

Oregon's new rules aren't that tough, but they are stricter than those in some other Western states. Washington and Idaho stress public education about fireproofing, but legislators have failed to pass laws requiring homeowners to trim flammable vegetation.

In Oregon, homeowners who choose not to fireproof their homes could be liable for $100,000 in firefighting costs but only if the fire starts on their property, spreads within the area that should have been fireproofed and is extinguished by state forestry firefighters at extraordinary cost.

During the next 10 years, state forestry officials will establish forestland-urban zones in 35 of 36 Oregon counties where they provide fire protection. Douglas and Klamath counties are next in line.

Half of Jackson County's rural residents have fireproofed their homes, officials estimate, after a spate of recent wildfires.

"It was scary," Lorene Bergstrom of Ruch said of the fires. "I think it woke a lot of people up that it could happen here."