Sisters may be a small town, but its residents, businesses, and visitors are well-protected and well-served by robust and highly professional emergency services.
Sisters doesn’t have its own police force, but it might as well have. The City of Sisters contracts with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office to provide a lieutenant and a cadre of three deputies who are assigned full-time to the Sisters substation. The DCSO patrol vehicles all carry the City of Sisters logo to foster community identity. Knowing the community you are working in on an intimate basis makes a big difference in law enforcement, and that has proved out in Sisters.“
That consistent piece (having a set cadre of deputies in town) has made us way more effective,” says DCSO Lt. Chad Davis. “We know people by their first names. We know the names of their dogs.”
Black Butte Ranch has its own police department to keep the Ranch secure, and the agencies cooperate and assist each other whenever needed.
Sisters is also served by the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District. The District has 18 paid staff, including career EMTs and firefighters. The District also prides itself on a robust volunteer program. Like most modern fire departments, the majority of their calls are medical (73 percent in 2023) and the district has multiple ambulances and a highly trained cadre of paramedics.
The farm and ranch land east of Sisters has its own Cloverdale Fire District. Cloverdale provides fire protection and responds to vehicle accidents. Black Butte Ranch has its own fire department — including the area’s ladder truck — and the BBR District has its own ambulance.
Sisters is located in wildfire country, and the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon Department of Forestry both stage firefighters here during the summer and fall months.
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