September 2018
Published by the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal
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Wildland fire protection in Oregon has evolved into a very complex, multi-faceted system
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Over the course of the past 20 years, Oregon’s mutual aid system has come a long way. From the early years of task forces mobilizing without oversight, to the creation of Incident Management Teams (IMT), to what we have today: a flexible system that can be used quickly and efficiently even across state lines.
A healthy mutual aid system is dependent on many moving parts, starting with local mutual aid plans and agreements. These local and regional mutual aid plans set the foundation for ensuring districts are staffed, trained, and prepared to respond effectively to local incidents. Oregon's mutual aid system is anchored in these local mutual aid plans, which serve as a stepping stone to statewide response.
A mutual aid system is strengthened by having a single agency administering and supporting the system and process for mobilizing resources, as OSFM does, but ultimately relies upon the entire statewide network of the fire service.
Fortunately for Oregon, we have so many fire service professionals who fully understand and are committed to their individual roles within the system.
From the boots on the ground training and equipping personnel, to the fire chiefs that support their agency personnel participating in mobilizations and the IMT program, to the Fire Defense Board Chiefs who spend their summers managing their regions and serving as liaisons with the OSFM, to the finance personnel who work to ensure paperwork is processed and departments are reimbursed; all of these individuals are vital components of Oregon’s healthy mutual aid system.
This is a system that has shown its value once again with a challenging 2018 fire year.
Thanks for all you do!
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Oregon State Fire Marshal Jim Walker
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October is Fire Prevention Month!
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This year’s Fire Prevention Month (FPM) theme is “Look. Listen. Learn. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere.” The three most common causes of Oregon residential fires in 2017 were cooking, heating, and smoking, and the 3,282 residential structure fires resulted in 39 deaths, 130 civilian injuries, and $106.5 million dollars in property and content loss.
There are a variety of resources available for Oregon fire agencies and partners, which can be used to educate the public about the importance of having a home fire escape plan and practicing it regularly.
Visit our FPM web
page
for more information on this year’s campaign efforts. Printable PDFs of Spanish versions of the Fire Safety Randomizer and the Home Safety Checklist For Caregivers of Babies, Toddlers, and Children are available on the page. A short FPM video and social media messages will be available on the webpage in late September.
These resources (and more) are now available to order in packs of 50 on the OSFM
order form
:
- New Home Safety Checklist For Caregivers of Babies, Toddlers, and Children
- Rover Activity Book
- A Guide To Home Fire Escape Planning: English
- A Guide To Home Fire Escape Planning: Spanish
- Fire Safety Randomizer
- Folding Fire Truck
Questions? Please contact OSFM’s Fire & Life Safety Education Branch at 503-934-8228 or osfm.ce@state.or.us.
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September is National Preparedness Month and will hopefully mark the end of fire season for Oregon – at least we’re crossing our fingers for it. With that in mind, emergency services personnel should still exercise attentiveness and caution, whether working in an office or out in the field. There are several inexpensive things that can be done to be better prepared for any emergency or scenario.
You are ultimately the only one responsible for your safety and survival and should not rely on your agency or coworkers to help provide supplies in case of an emergency. You need to do what is best for you when preparing for a natural disaster or other emergency.
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1. Make a plan. Emergencies happen when those are the least prepared and at the most inconvenient times. Try composing different scenarios of events or incidents that could happen that could keep you from leaving work and/or arriving home; a winter pile up on the freeway, a bridge collapse, wildfire, power outage, tornado, hazardous materials incidents, or tsunamis and flooding are all prime examples of disasters that may potentially happen in our area.
2. Purchase a case or two of water and stash it under your desk and/or in your vehicle. This is one of the most inexpensive and easiest things you can do to prepare. With the most recent water crisis in Oregon due to contaminated drinking water from cyanotoxins, it’s a great idea to have bottled water on hand at work and at home at all times. While we all aren’t likely to have much storage space at work, it is ideal to have a minimum of one gallon per person per day for at least two weeks.
3. Make sure you have at least enough food in your vehicle or workplace for at least three days, although it is a preferable practice to instead be prepared for a minimum of two weeks.
4. Place a pair of tennis shoes and a change or two of clothing in your vehicle. You never know when your vehicle may break down and the need to walk for help arises or just in case you are stranded at work and are not able to get yourself home.
5. A first aid kit is very important to have in case you and/or a coworker have minor injuries and local fire or emergency services are not able to get to your location in a timely manner. This could be helpful for a multitude of reasons – and not only in case of emergency. Do you know where the first aid kit at your work is located?
One preparedness effort by Oregon Office of Emergency Management is their
Two Weeks
Ready campaign. Previous year’s information encouraged people to be prepared for at least 72 hours, but that may not be enough. If and when the Cascadia Subduction Zone ear
thquake occurs, our region will be faced with major damage and destruction to our infrastructure. Local fire and police will need to prioritize the damages and injuries and focus on the more life threatening issues. If people are prepared, it will save time and resources for those first responders who are trying to get to those in dire need.
Below are a few websites and agencies that can help you in your preparedness activities:
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Insight Youth Fire Intervention Program
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by OSFM
Youth Fire Prevention and Intervention Program Coordinator Sara Jasmin
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The Youth Team within OSFM is pleased to announce the completion of the Insight Youth Fire Intervention Program for youth ages 9 through 17. This is a workbook based intervention program that provides fire safety education as well as skill building and accountability to youth who misuse fire.
The Program includes the Blue workbook which targets youth ages 9 to 12. For this age group, the program focuses on fire safety messaging and problem solving skills. We encourage families to participate in the completion of this workbook together, as well as through facilitation from a fire service professional or community partner.
The Red workbook targets youth ages 13 through 17 and guides them through a more thorough understanding of fire education and making changes to their behavior patterns in hopes of making smarter choices in regards to fire in the future. Each workbook is 17 pages in length and ends with guiding the participants through the creation of a letter of responsibility.
Insight is not intended to replace the Oregon Juvenile with Fire Screening Tool, but to work as a response to a screening that indicates an intervention would be of value to the youth. Please contact the Youth Fire Prevention and Intervention Program if you are interested in receiving copies of these workbooks.
For more information on the use of this tool, OSFM is offering facilitator trainings. At this time there are currently two scheduled trainings in October with the hopes of adding additional trainings in the future. If you would like to host a training in your area, please contact the program coordinator, Sara Jasmin, at
sara.jasmin@state.or.us
or by phone at 503-934-2136.
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O
regon Fallen Fire Fighters Memorial
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R
emember and honor those individuals who have sacrificed their lives for the Oregon Fire Service.
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by OSFM Code Deputy David Mills
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Fire service’s inspection role in marijuana growing, processing, and extraction facilities
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The 2016 Oregon legislative assembly amended cannabis regulation under Chapter 475B of the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS). The Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) was charged to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework concerning marijuana. The OLCC has adopted Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) 845 Division 25 to protect the public health and safety of citizens in Oregon.
Within these rules is a requirement, OAR 845-025-3260(2)(b)(D), stating that equipment and facilities used in processing and extraction of cannabinoid concentrates shall
“Have equipment and facilities used in processing approved for use by the local fire code official. ” The process of approving the facility and equipment poses unique code challenges with many questions. One such question surrounds statutory authority.
A component of the fire code official’s approval includes compliance with the adopted Oregon Fire Code (OFC) and the family of Oregon Specialty Codes (OSC). In order for the fire code official to approve the equipment and facility used in plant processing, the equipment and facility must be in conformance with currently adopted construction codes and standards.
While the OFC serves as both a construction and maintenance code for buildings, it is the building officials’ responsibility to ensure new construction is in conformance with the intended occupancy and use of each building.
Many of the OFC regulations are for safety in specific
uses involving processes and equipment for which construction inspections and approvals are to be obtained through the local building official construction permit process. The construction, alteration, or repair of a building or structure is the responsibility of the building official (ORS 455.150(8)).
The Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) has authority and is responsible for regulating minimum standards
“for the prevention of fires” and
“for the protection of life and property against fire….” (ORS 476.030 and 476.120). Fire protection standards include such things as fire apparatus access roads, water supply for firefighting purposes and the installation and spacing of fire hydrants, as well as storage and use of flammable and combustible liquids, and the maintenance of existing buildings.
The OSFM maintains the structural fire safety features approved by the building official in accordance with the state adopted codes and standards. In addition, the fire service oversees the safety of and directing of, the means of egress in case of fire in such buildings as factories (including extraction and processing facilities), hospitals, churches, schools, theaters, mercantile, warehouses, and in all buildings, except private residences; and all other places where persons work, live, or congregate. Buildings shall be built, occupied, and maintained in conformity with the state adopted codes and standards applicable at the time of construction (See ORS 476.030(1)(c)).
OSFM has developed the
State Fire Marshal’s Role and Responsibility form letter to assist deputies in navigating the inspection and accountability regulations within our statutory authority. All proposed marijuana facilities are required to obtain a land-use compatibility statement from the city or county planning office, which provides an opportunity for fire code officials to identify proposed marijuana businesses within their jurisdiction.
Fire and building codes require all buildings or structure to be classified in one or more of the occupancy groups listed in the Oregon Structural Specialty Code (OSSC). The building official is required to issue a certificate of occupancy after a successful final inspection and after all deficiencies and violations have been resolved.
Ensuring safe operations and equipment is vital to community and firefighter safety. We encourage the fire service to work closely with your local building/planning/zoning/development departments to provide input in accordance with ORS 455.150(8) and OAR 918-020-0020.
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News from the Analytics & Intelligence Unit
by Fire Data Research Analyst Kayla Brookshire
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Handy Resource Toolboxes:
A guide to important resources and where to find them.
Our high-tech world has an abundance of information available, but it can be overwhelming trying to sort through it all. After all, nobody has time for that!
We want to help you avoid information overload. Below, the Analytics & Intelligence Unit has assembled a collection of helpful resources, organized by category into various toolboxes, so that you can easily find a variety of resources all in one place as you may need them. The
Conflagration/Mobilization Reporting Website
provides the most up-to-date information for reporting conflagrations as mutual aid to OSFM. This webpage is accessible from the OSFM website, under Analytics & Intelligence, Conflagration/Mobilization Reporting.
The
NFIRS Complete Reference Guide is an excellent in-depth resource which provides detailed information on each module and coding standards for each field. This guide is available at the USFA NFIRS website.
The Analytics & Intelligence Unit recommends using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browsers for incident reporting and general web browsing. Users have reported experiencing errors when using the Internet Explorer browser.
The OSFM A&I Unit is also available to answer incident reporting questions via e-mail at
osfm.data@state.or.us or by phone at (503)-934-8250.
Miscellaneous Fire Service Info Toolbox:
State Fire Data Toolbox:
For local fire data, incident reports are often the best resource. If you are using ImageTrend
™ FireBridge or Elite, Report Writer can be used to pull data defined by specific criteria and time parameters.
The
Supplement to the Annual Report
c
ontain
s fire and hazmat data for the state. The Supplement is published each summer with previous year’s data. The 2017 Supplement is now available online on the OSFM website, under Analytics & Intelligence, Reports and Statistics.
FEMA’s
webpage
, Data Visualization: Fire Incidents for States and Counties is another great resource for state data. Select a state and the webpage will populate with statistics and a map.
To submit a data request to OSFM A&I, complete the
Data Request Form on the OSFM website, under Analytics & Intelligence, Data Requests, Data Request Form.
The A&I team is working on creating additional local and state level fire data resources, including county level Deputy Reports, an annual Unpacking the Fire Problem Report, and interactive dashboards. Stay tuned!
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State Population Data Toolbox:
Portland State University’s Population Research Center posts certified annual population estimates on their
website
each July for Oregon as a state, as well as counties, cities, and towns.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s
American FactFinder webpage provides search options by state, county, city, town, or zip code for population and demographic statistics.
National Fire Data Toolbox:
The National Fire Protection Association
website
has national-level fire statistics, reports, and
printable fact sheets
on a number of fire-related topics.
The CDC Data and Statistics
webpage
(WISQARS) allows aggregate fatality data to be pulled from their database, which can be restricted to fire-caused fatalities.
National fire data can also be requested from the U.S. Fire Administration’s NFIRS Help Desk via e-mail:
FEMA-NFIRSHELP@fema.dhs.gov
or by phone: 1-(888)-382-3827.
National Population Data Toolbox:
The U.S. Census Bureau also has a QuickFact
webpage
which serves as a handy resource for the most recent national level population and demographic statistics.
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Oregon Fire Service Museum
Construction Celebration & Fire Truck Show
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Join us to celebrate the construction of the fire museum building on
September 8, 2018
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Pancake fundraising breakfast, 08:00 –10:00 AM. Fire Truck display and activities 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
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Fundraising continues to finish the building, and significant construction progress is being made towards completion. We will be having a fire apparatus display, pumping demonstrations, and kids events. Please bring your fire truck, antique or modern, to show off at the event.
RSVP at: oregonfiremuseum@gmail.com or phone at 541-554-0669
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Located at Powerland Heritage Park in Brooks just north of Salem—3995 Brooklake Drive, NE. I-5 to Exit 263, proceed west just past May Trucking.
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See what's happening on our social sites:
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