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We’ve all been on high alert about wildfires spreading to our homes ever since the massive destruction from the 2020 Labor Day wildfires right in our own backyard. Although that event was one of the most traumatic disasters Marion County has seen in years, there’s a lot we can learn from it to become more resilient communities.
May is National Wildfire Preparedness month! From home hardening, fuels reduction, defensible space, to evacuation planning, there are so many ways to reduce your risk of danger in the case of a wildfire spreading to your neighborhood. As we continue into the next wildfire season, here are some tips to help get ready and stay ready.
Preparing your home and property from wildfire damage starts with the home. It is recommended to start mitigating for wildfire risk by hardening your home and structures by modifying them to be more ember resilient. Once your home and buildings are protected, work outwards into the three zones around your house, then into your woodland or natural area to create a defensible space. If you are a homeowner in a WUI (Wildland-urban Interface), you may want to consider taking steps to reinforce your infrastructure and house to be more resilient against fire damage, as these areas may be at higher risk of experiencing damage from forest fires that have gotten out of control. This can help with preventing embers from entering your home, windows breaking and allowing flames inside, and materials from combusting.
Lower cost methods for home hardening:
Higher cost methods for home hardening:
Defensible space is the 100 feet buffer around a structure or home where combustibles are removed and altered to reduce wildfire risk. Combining home hardening techniques with defensible space is the best way to protect your home and woodland from wildfire damage. Think “From the front door to the forest”. Everyone can ensure they are maintaining a defensible space around their dwelling unit and valuable infrastructure by removing flammable and combustible materials at least 5 to 100 ft away from the home. According to wildfire prevention experts, the defensible space around a home can be partitioned into three zones.
Zone 1: Immediate zone, 0-5 feet from house.
Zone 2: Intermediate zone, 5-30 feet from house.
Zone 3: Extended zone, 30 -100 feet from house.
In addition to modifying your home and woodlands to ensure they are resilient against wildfire, it is essential to have your family prepared for the case that you may need to evacuate your home. Marion County residents have been evacuated for wildfire nearly every summer in recent years. To make sure you, your family, and your animals are safe and comfortable in the face of a natural disaster emergency, it is important to have a kit or go-bag ready to take at last minute notice.
Here are some steps you can take to be ready for an unexpected emergency:
Create a plan for evacuating and protecting your pets and livestock.
As part of the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s wildfire preparedness month, we are giving away wildfire safety kits to provide resources to help you get started on building an emergency preparedness kit and to spread the word to friends and community members about wildfire preparedness. Please order your free kit for pick up on our website catalog here: Wildfire Safety Kit. Kits are also available in Spanish!
Once you have prepared your home and family to mitigate and prepare for wildfires, be ready to spring into action at any point during peak wildfire season. Our wildfire season has been extending, starting earlier in the summer and lasting well into early fall, due to changing climate conditions. Stay informed about local emergency alerts and natural disasters that are in effect near you. Check the current conditions on disaster and evacuation notices in Marion County on the Marion County Emergency Response Hub.
Become familiar with the Ready, Set, Go! Emergency Evacuation Levels, and stay updated on what level is in effect near you.
Take action and complete the Marion County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Survey to give feedback on what you want to see in the updated plan. It’s important to get feedback from those impacted by the previous fires, to learn how we can build stronger communities for the future. This survey closes at midnight on June 30, 2024. Read the full 2017 version of the plan here: Marion CWPP.