National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day is Saturday, May 7
With much of Oregon seeing another year of continued drought and the wildfire outlook for this summer very concerning, the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal would like to remind Oregonians of the importance of defensible space around their home and property.
Good defensible space can not only prevent embers from igniting your home, but it can also prevent flames from reaching your home altogether. You can protect your home and community from wildfire with some simple steps.
A key to good defensible space is to keep it defined, keep grass and weeds cut low and always be prepared to respond to wildfire. With this in mind, the Office of State Fire Marshal urges you to look around your property. Look for areas where glowing embers could ignite spot fires and vulnerable areas like decks, patios, and fences that can spread flames to your home. The most significant risk of buildings catching on fire during a wildfire is the advancing ember shower that can reach your property long before an actual flame front.
“Wildfire safety starts with all of us and our property. Now is a good time to take action to prepare our homes, families, and communities for wildfires by starting on our property before there is smoke on the horizon,” Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said.
To address the risk of wildfire, the Office of State Fire Marshal recommends the following steps people can take right now to help protect themselves against the upcoming fire season:
- Clear roofs and gutters of dead leaves, debris, and pine needles that could catch embers
- Ensure your roof is in good repair
- Move any flammable material away from exterior walls, i.e., mulch, flammable plants, leaves and needles, firewood piles
- Remove anything stored underneath decks or porches
- Give your home a non-combustible area where a fire in the landscape can’t reach your home
- Keep lawns and native grasses mowed during high fire danger conditions.
- Remove ladder fuels (vegetation under trees) so a surface fire cannot reach the crowns.
While defensible space at the individual home offers protection, communities can be better protected when every home in the area creates defensible space. This significantly increases the chances that more homes will survive a wildfire event.
“By taking a neighborhood approach to defensible space and community preparedness, you also protect our firefighters,” Ruiz-Temple said. “Ultimately, individuals taking the right steps on their property before fire season will make firefighters safer and more effective.”
The Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal is excited to announce that it will host a series of webinars in May to help prepare Oregonians for wildfire.
The OSFM has brought in experts in their fields to speak. The webinars will focus on insurance preparedness, how homes really ignite during wildfire and what can be done to better protect the home; a look at Oregon’s evacuation levels and what they mean, and what fire-resistant plants Oregonians can use in their defensible space plan.
These webinars continue a series that is part of the OSFM’s Fire Adapted Oregon initiative.
Those wishing to attend any of the webinars can register through Eventbrite at the links below.
May 12th, 2022: 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Home Ignition: How to protect your home
May 19th, 2022: 12:00 p.m. (noon) – 1:00 p.m. Be Ready, Be Set, GO!: Oregon’s evacuation levels and what they mean
May 24th, 2022: 12:00 p.m. (noon) – 1:00 p.m. Fire Resistant Plants: What are they?
The OSFM would like to thank its partners who have helped make these educational webinars possible and our presenters who will be sharing their expertise.
We look forward to hosting these webinars in May as we all work to be better prepared for wildfire.
The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation (DFR) has tips to help you be prepared.
Financial readiness is often forgotten when preparing for a disaster, particularly a wildfire. Here are some tips to be ready:
- Conduct annual review with your insurance agent or company to make sure you have the right amounts and types of insurance coverage.
- Renters should purchase renters insurance to protect their personal belongings. It is affordable; many policies cost around $15 a month.
- Create a home inventory. Take photos or videos of your possessions in each room of your home. Store the inventory in the cloud or in a location away from your home.
- Gather and make copies of important identifying and financial documents, including identification and Social Security cards, titles, insurance policy information, tax records, and pet records.
- Build an emergency kit.
Preparing the outside of your home and creating defensible space is important before wildfire season hits. Ways to potentially save your home from a total loss include cleaning out gutters, raking and removing pine needles and dry leaves to a minimum of three to five feet from your home’s foundation, sweeping porches and decks, pruning low-hanging tree branches to a height of four feet from the ground, and adding screens to your home’s vents to keep embers from entering.
The division’s wildfire insurance and disaster preparedness pages have more resources to help people prepare for and recover from disasters. We have resources available in multiple langauges. Visit dfr.oregon.gov/help for more information.
DFR consumer advocates can answer insurance questions and manage complaints and DFR’s outreach team can provide presentations to communities on how to be disaster ready. Contact DFR at outreach.dfr@dcbs.oregon.gov.
