Firewise — How can homes and communities prepare for urban wildfire?
Welcome!
This page is a nexus for a Firewise Community of all the residences, parks, institutions, and businesses loosely centered around Collins View.
The threat of an urban wildfire is becoming more and more real as weather and climate heats up. There are many things home owners can do NOW to reduce risks and exposure to wildfire. Please consider signing up for an assessment or at least doing a self-assessment, as given on this page, just below.
Not convinced?
See this Spring 2025 article from The Oregonian:
Is Portland ready for a catastrophic wildfire in Forest Park?
The city’s top firefighters say recent Oregon and California wildfires are a ‘wake-up call’.
Here is the [LINK].
It talks about more than just Forest Park... Wake Up!
Ongoing Outreach
Thank you for dropping in, whether via QR code, Email, or Nextdoor post! Here are our most important links for newcomers:
On doing a Firewise Self Assessment — These are the essential items that can help make your property resistant to urban wildfire, and to prepare for an future 'WUI' assessment, should you go to the next level.
[LINK].
Our 'Home Protection Series' for the 2024 season:
[LINK].
Our 'Ideas' for 2025: (In progress!)
Check out our digital 'Doorhanger', developed during the pandemic.
[LINK].
Check out Portland Fire & Rescue's new page, 'Reducing the Risk of Wildfire'.
[LINK].
You are on the Collins View Firewise Community home page -- that's a good start!
After checking the above important links, scroll down to check everything out, and share this information! We are regularly re-working and updating this information.
Fall/Winter Tip: Wet Weather Shouldn’t put a Damper on our FireWise Preparations
It's always a good time to do certain preparations.
Review these chores, compiled from our Tips of the Week (2023), our Digital Door Hanger, and our 2024 Home Protection Series (links above) for ideas:
Clean gutters again after Leaves are off. You gonna need that anyway.
Cover all attic vents and openings with 1/8" or smaller screen.
Create a five-foot 'barrier' of nonflammable material around your house.
Create fuel breaks utilizing trails and islands of fire resistive landscaping within 30 feet of your home.
Plan Fire Resistant Plantings.
Remove "ladder fuels" — brush, ivy, blackberries, and low limbs that can carry a fire up into the treetops or onto your house.
Remove all combustible storage or debris from under decks and porches.
Remove ladder fuels (see definition of Ladder Fuel)
Remove needles and duff from roof. Be careful not to slip on roof!
Work on your defensible space.
Inside Jobs
La Nina decides it’s pouring/snowy/icy outside. Hunker in and …
Work on your "Ready Set Go!" preparation.
Go through everyone’s grab-N-go bags, including necessary documents, so when evacuation orders come you’re ready to GO.
Make a list of what to pack in car. Post it on the kitchen bulletin board for all to see. Supplies should anticipate the possibility of being stuck in your vehicle, or camping for a period of time.
Make sure whatever needs to be recharged is recharged periodically-especially POWER BANKS. This is an ongoing scheduled task. Don’t wait for bad weather power outages.
Clean/replace the filters in your air purifiers.
Collins View Firewise Community Status Reports
"Lawn signs" are here, and being placed in the community!
Firewise Sign placed on Boones Ferry + Taylors Ferry traffic diversion island
This particular sign disappeared just days after it was placed. Nowhere to be found!
Most recent: FEB 2025 - Highlights from the Firewise Communities Leadership Meeting
[LINK].
In August 2023 we moved all the status reports onto their own page:
[SAME LINK as above].
Spring/Summer Tip: Backyard Barbeques and Fire Pits
This is from Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R):
Backyard BarbeQues and Fire Pits: We hope you’ll make safety the biggest consideration when burning outdoors. Only burn in specially designed and approved containers; these may be BBQ grills or fire pits with metal lids and or spark containing screens.
While that fire pit might be a fun way to keep the party going, your neighbors may be elderly or have small children and they might not enjoy the smoke that’s blowing into their windows, consider limiting the time that you burn. Lastly, make sure to properly dispose of ashes in a metal container and store it well away from anything that could burn.
We are posting weekly tips on Nextdoor - bitesize things you can do so as not to overwhelm. After posting, we add the Tip of the Week page
[TotW].
See the Tips of the Week page for full treatment of Tips:
Create a Defensible Space around your home!
What is a Ladder Fuel?
Cluster flammable landscaping into "Islands of Fuel" away from your home.
Keep valleys on your roof clear of pine needle accumulation.
Clean your gutter of dry leaves and combustibles!
Space deck boards to allow organic material (and embers!) to fall through gaps.
To reduce the chances of embers entering your home, consider providing 1/8" or less screening over attic vents and foundation vents.
Avoid connecting a wooden fence to your flammable home.
Evacuation Tips, Part I & II
Ready, Set, Go — Keep your important stuff together. Also make a checklist of things to gather in case you get the READY signal.
Feel free to share the Tip of the Week page
[TotW]
with Neighbors, on FaceBook, email, wherever!
See our 'Home Protection Series' for the 2024 season:
[LINK].
Sign up for a free, comprehensive, expert assessment!
Residents are able to have their properties assessed by PF&R Personnel for fire hazards and suggested mitigation.
Sign Up! It's FREE! There is no legal obligation for the owner to remedy situations.
It is an assessment of your exposure to wildfire.
The result is a useful list of suggested (not required) actions.
Signing up for the PF&R Firewise Assessment go to this
[PAGE], then find the WUI assessment link to 'Schedule free wild land – urban interface assessment at your home'. (Or just use this Direct link to the
[Sign-Up Form])
Registration is very short and non-intrusive. They will call you back to schedule, so the date/time you enter can be negotiated on that call. The assessment itself requires about 45 minutes.
Once you have the assessment, you'll want to act on it.
Think of it as a Marathon, not a sprint.
Please encourage your neighbors to sign up for an assessment, and for PUBLIC ALERTS (see blow).
FYI - We are working on a checklist based on the assessment form in case you'd rather do a self-assessment.
What more you can do!
Please visit the New Collins View Blog article:
[
Firewise Community Effort June 2022 ]
for LOTS of good information in a slightly different form.
See our Firewise Self-Assessment
[CHECKLIST]
— a work in progress.
Take our "What's Wrong in these pictures" Firewise
[QUIZ]
Public Alerts is a Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM) program that sends urgent safety messages (stay inside, evacuate, boil water etc.) in the Portland-Vancouver metro area. News and information on major service disruptions (roads, transit, public health, safety, utilities, schools, weather) are sent to landline phones, mobile phones (voice and text) and email. To receive messages you must register at Public Alerts:
[LINK]
Wireless Emergency Alerts — Depending upon the nature of an incident, safety information is also provided through Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on most mobile phones, Twitter, Facebook, TV, Radio, and on-line newspapers.
On iPhones, tap your Settings app, scroll to Notifications, and scroll down to Government Alerts. Turn on Amber and Emergency Alerts by simply tapping the slide switch. The slide switch should turn green. Notifications arrive in banner format and can be accessed by swiping down from the top of your screen and tapping on the Notifications tab.
On Droids, Emergency Alerts are a separate default application icon. If you do not see it on one of your home screens, search for the app in your apps location. The icon is typically a yellow triangle with an exclamation point in the center, and you can view alerts simply by opening the app on your phone.
Firewise USA Logo
What is Firewise? What is a Firewise Community?
Firewise is a national program that shares tips on protecting residential property from wildfire. A number of fire-wise residents can form a community to tackle common goals.
We don't need to duplicate the EXCELLENT Firewise material here. See the
Firewise USA! website.
DEFENSIBLE SPACE!
There was an excellent ad on TV, sponsored by the Oregon State Fire Marshal. Here's a SHOUT OUT for this PSA! Did you see it?
The Fire Marshal's office made the 30 second video available, so it's posted on Nextdoor.
It's fun to see different presentations of the same Firewise information. Makes you want to do it!
October 2022 SW News has a full page Public safety report on Page 16. (swni.org)
Visual Arts: State of the Forest Exhibition
The World Forestry Center’s State of the Forest exhibition chronicles the aftermath of wildfires. The exhibit combines paintings by artist Suze Woolf and text by author and firefighter Lorena Williams.
[LINK].
Image on the World Forestry Center Website
Most of the remainder of the page is text is recycled from the NET page.
JM added URBAN WILDFIRE to the NET page some years ago (2016-18?). NET deals with all kinds of emergencies - quakes, wind, explosions, power outages, whatever.
A joint FireWise/NET Fire Extinguisher event was held on June 1, 2024.
See the CV NET Updates page for text and photos:
[LINK]
URBAN WILDFIRE (from NET)
What's the danger of an Urban Wildfire?
Climatologists reported that 2014 was the hottest year on record. The summers are getting hotter and the vegetation is getting drier each year.
(2023 is on its way — it exceeded the record in July !)
Accumulating brush on the hillsides becomes potential fuel for fires. A carelessly thrown cigarette, or a fire in a homeless camp, or a downed power line can all spark fires.
Strong winds coming out of the east and northeast could drive a fire up into the west hills very quickly.
How can the community be better prepared?
Everyone should be aware of Red Flag days when the danger of fire is particularly high.
Neighbors should be warned of imminent fire danger somehow.
Escape routes need to be identified and publicized.
Here are tips on evacuating your family:
[TIPS].
The Portland Fire Bureau also advises property owners to take steps to protect their homes. Among them are:
Creating a space around your home that provides a clearing of inflammable materials or vegetation. Remove invasive trees and shrubs, plant trimmings, firewood, fiberglass boats and recreational vehicles around the home.
Using fire resistant building materials, particularly roofing and siding as well as decking and pavers.
Landscaping with fire resistant plants.
For more information about wildfires and preventing and preparing for them go to
[DEAD LINK].
What You Can Do: Prepare! (from NET)
... Emergency Preparedness ...
Be part of the solution, not part of the problem!
Go Kit —
If you are forced to evacuate on a minute's notice, do you have a Go Kit packed with necessary medicines, cash, clothes, and important documents that are ready to grab and go? Most Go Kits are described as 72-hour Survival Kits and can be purchased or homemade as do-it-yourself kits.
[GO/STAY KIT page]
Prepare Your Pets for Disasters —
See this page on [PETS.
Download and print this Pet preparedness flyer
[PDF]
FYI - The Dangers of Asbestos
The Collins View Firewise Community was contacted by The Mesothelioma Center, which is focused on reducing cancer caused by asbestos in general. Their web site (below) has general information about asbestos and the dangers of asbestos exposure during and after a fire.
We prepared a standalone page from information they provided. Asbestos mitigation is not part of the Firewise Program. FYI only.
[LINK]
