Help your family and neighbors stay safe
by joining Summit West's
emergency preparedness efforts!
The westside of Bend sits in what experts call the Urban-Wildland Interface (WUI). These are areas where homes are built near or among lands prone to wildfires. The WUI isn't a place, but a set of conditions, including proximity to fire-prone vegetation and other combustible structures, as well as weather patterns and climate conditions that increase the risk of wildfires starting and spreading.
Even if a fire doesn't start near your home, wind-blown embers are a major concern in the WUI. Most structures within the WUI aren't destroyed from direct flames, but rather from embers. Embers often precede the flaming fire front, carried by winds that distribute them over long distances.
The Two Bulls Fire on the westside in 2014 showed how close the risk can be and how quickly residents may have to react. More than 250 homes and more than 600 people on Bend's westside were evacuated, and everyone from Northwest Crossing and Broken Top to the west was on standby to leave. The fast-moving fire brought comparisons to the 1990 Awbrey Hall Fire, which burned 3,350 acres, or nearly 5 square miles, and destroyed 22 homes on the westside.
Watch this page for updates that can help you prepare your home and family and consider joining the SWNA Emergency Preparedness Committee (e-mail: BendSummitWest@gmail.com) to extend that help to your neighbors. After all, if they don't know what to do, that may affect you.
Even if a fire doesn't start near your home, wind-blown embers are a major concern in the WUI. Most structures within the WUI aren't destroyed from direct flames, but rather from embers. Embers often precede the flaming fire front, carried by winds that distribute them over long distances.
The Two Bulls Fire on the westside in 2014 showed how close the risk can be and how quickly residents may have to react. More than 250 homes and more than 600 people on Bend's westside were evacuated, and everyone from Northwest Crossing and Broken Top to the west was on standby to leave. The fast-moving fire brought comparisons to the 1990 Awbrey Hall Fire, which burned 3,350 acres, or nearly 5 square miles, and destroyed 22 homes on the westside.
Watch this page for updates that can help you prepare your home and family and consider joining the SWNA Emergency Preparedness Committee (e-mail: BendSummitWest@gmail.com) to extend that help to your neighbors. After all, if they don't know what to do, that may affect you.
What You Can Do Now
Here are some steps you can take:
Here are some steps you can take:
- Register with the Deschutes Alert System to receive emergency notifications by phone.
- Create an evacuation plan: know how you will leave and where you will go if you are advised to evacuate.
- Develop a family communication plan: know how you'll maintain contact and how and where to re-unite if you're separated.
Resources
Take advantage of these resources to be better-prepared (click on the underlined links):
Take advantage of these resources to be better-prepared (click on the underlined links):
- Central Oregon Fire Information: This is a one-stop-shop for Central Oregon residents on wildfire, public health, smoke, and prescribed fire information. The site also has a real-time map of all active fire incidents within Oregon and Washington, as well as current air quality information.
- Project Wildfire: Project Wildfire is the result of a Deschutes County effort to create long-term wildfire mitigation strategies and provide for a disaster-resistant community. Project Wildfire also facilitates the implementation of Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) that identify areas at risk and prioritizes them for hazardous-fuels reduction treatments.
- Greater Bend Community Wildfire Protection Plan: The Greater Bend CWPP identifies priorities and strategies for reducing hazardous wildland fuels while improving forest health and improving fire protection capabilities. The plan assists local agencies and Bend area property owners in the identification and prioritization of project areas, including surrounding public lands that are at risk from high-intensity wildland fires.
- City of Bend Wild Fire Safety Information: This link provides wildfire and life safety information for the community. Bend Fire Department also offers free consults for homeowners to review their home and identify ways of improving the property to help prevent the spread of wildfires.
- FireFree Program: Project Wildfire coordinates with local partners to implement the "FireFree" Program each year. The FireFree program is a year-round educational program that teaches residents how to protect their homes from wildfire.
