Increase your safety
Increase your sense of preparedness
Learn tips to help you, your family, your home, and your community
This educational and interactive series about wildfires in Central Oregon focuses on how to prepare for the increasingly dangerous wildfire seasons, mitigate inequity in fire management and emergency response, and provide information on how to engage in mutual aid and community support. This series took place throughout the month of May, 2021, with multiple parts that will included a virtual community discussion, educational videos, and social media posts. See the event recordings, tools and links below!
Topics:
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Home hardening
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Indigenous wildfire management
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Climate change impacts on wildfires
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Equitable emergency preparedness
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Cheap, easy tools for withstanding wildfire
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How to access or donate to mutual aid efforts
Stay tuned for more information as we continue to update this page with more tools and links!
Help us to keep our community safe and set up systems of mutual aid BEFORE wildfire season starts. To get involved with this series, contact our program coordinator Laurie at lharrer@350deschutes.org
Past Events:
Click here to learn how you can dispose the yard debris that might feed a wildfire in your neighborhood for FREE through FireFree events!
Tools/Resources
OR-Alert System
Oregon is finalizing its statewide system for alerts, warnings, and notifications called OR-Alert (including wildfire evacuations, etc.)! This system will automatically alert Mobile phones using Wireless Emergency Alerts, Land lines, Radio and television via the Emergency Alert System, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Radio to alert people without the need to sign up. Still important to note it is best to have multiple ways to learn of evacuations and other alerts: sign up with your county alert system, connect with your local fire district, and create a “phone tree” with your neighbors to check in on each other). For landlines, the website says they will also use “pre-loaded resident and business contact data” (updated quarterly).
There is also the option to do anonymous opt-ins for those who do not have publicly-known residential contact info by texting a keyword or zip code to the system. To learn more about it, check out the OR-Alert Vision website or the OR-Alert Overview and Status Report Presentation.
Guides & Links
Central Oregon Fire Info – Prescribed fires and smoke and air quality in Central Oregon
Wildfires & Smoke Resources by Oregon Health Authority
Prepare! A Resource Guide by the American Red Cross
Smoke-Ready Toolbox for Wildfires by the United States Environmental Protection Agency
NIEHS Worker Training Program & National Clearinghouse for Wildfire response
Firewise – Build a “fire ready” community
Jefferson County Fuels Reduction Reimbursement Program
Tools to View Live Smoke, Fires & Climate Conditions
Real-Time Wildfires by OregonLive
Freely Viewable Documentaries about Wildfires:
“Era of Megafires” Wenatchee Fire Video
“Inside the Megafire” documentary by NOVA premiered 5/8/2019 about the 2018 California fires
