The 3rd in our series of community education classes was held on September 13th at Hope Fellowship Church. The focus was on local Wildfires, prevention and preparedness.
Guest speaker Stephan Myers from TVF&R talked about their 2 year contract to cover servicing Newberg & surrounding area. This allows all our residence of South Parrett Mountain to be covered by Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue.
Lt. Nick Zarfas of Wilsonville fire station #52, covered several topics including the importance in having metal reflective address signs so that the fire & police can find your home when a 911 call is dispatched. Information on how to order signs has been placed on our “Resource” page on our website. For those that have entry gates, it was strongly suggested to put a Knox box by your gate which the fire department has a master key to gain access. This allows them to open your gate without damage to your property. Every second counts whether it’s a medical emergency or a fire, gates without this access & lack of visible address will slow down response time. Call TVF&R to discuss your current security gate arrangements at 503-649-8577.
Further discussions and hand-outs were presented by TVF&R to cover important steps you can make to help protect your property from fires & create a defensible space.
Greg Heath, owner of Universal Fire Equipment in Tualatin, provided an overview on home fire extinguishers and how to use them by remembering PASS (Pull the pin, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep). Businesses need to have their extinguishers inspected yearly. There are no rules for residential equipment. His company sells a wide variety of extinguishers for both commercial & residential use, services and inspects equipment and is a source to recycle old or used tanks. If your fire extinguisher is 1984 or older, it is considered obsolete, and should be considered for replacement. Universal Fire Extinguisher can recycle your old unit for a nominal fee. You will find their contact information on our “Resource” page on our website.
Kevin Zak was our final guest speaker, a volunteer on the disaster team of the American Red Cross Cascade Region. He brought several hand-outs including Prepare! A Resource Guide. Kevin gave an overview of the many different type of disasters that could effect our area and said that house fires were the number one occurrence with 2 calls per week where the Red Cross is called upon to help families out in Oregon/SW Washington. Kevin stressed making your home plan, create your emergency supply kit, get your whole family involved and be prepared for specific disasters.
The American Red Cross Cascade Region is offering a free smoke alarm installation to everyone. Call them at 503-528-5783 to schedule. They also are offering 10% off emergency preparedness items and first aid kits by going to www.redcrossstore.org and using coupon code: ORHY010617
Apps: TVF&R suggested a free app called Pulse. If you are current in CPR training, you can register & be notified of a 911 call within a 1/4 mile of you. You may be the closest person to provide CPR assistance while first responders are on their way to the scene.
American Red Cross has several useful apps you can download, for more information:
http://www.redcross.org/get-help/prepare-for-emergencies/mobile-apps
New 911 texting service. Call first, but you can now text if you need to. Great option if you have limited cell coverage or are hearing or speech impaired.
Thank you to all the volunteers and guest speakers who help bring this informative evenings to our community.
Linda Edwards
LHNA’s South Parrett Mountains Emergency Plan
www.spm-ep.org