Before a wildfire
Fires are a natural part of the Pacific Northwest's diverse ecosystems. Click on each tab below to learn more about how you can better prepare your family, home, and community for wildfire.
The "Home Ignition Zone, or HIZ" includes structures and their surroundings out to 100-200 feet depending on slope.
Creating defensible space within the HIZ can help prepare you for wildfire.
Defensible space for homeowners & renters
The Oregon State Fire Marshal has created a defensible space checklist to help you prioritize. Following these recommendations can increase the likelihood that your structure - like your home or business - will survive a wildfire.
Fire-resistant plants
Home hardening
Home hardening selection and techniques
Home hardening addresses the most vulnerable components of your house with building materials and installation techniques that increase resistance to heat, flames, and embers that accompany most wildfires. Oregon's Building Codes Division has created a fire hardening guide to assist with proper selection and techniques.
Make a plan
Planning, preparing, and practicing can make leaving for an evacuation quicker, easier, and safer for residents and first responders.
- Register for your local emergency alert system at OR-Alert (available in multiple languages) or go directly to your county sheriff or county emergency management website.This will help you stay informed of real-time hazard information.
- Be Ready, Be Set, Go Now! are Oregon's evacuation levels. The Oregon Department of Emergency Management has created a wildfire evacuation checklist.
- Don't forget to make an evacuation plan for your animals, too! Check with the Oregon Department of Agriculture website for shelter options and other resources.
- Make a go-kit. Visit Ready.gov or American Red Cross for recommended emergency kit items.
- Care for your mental health. OSU's Fire Program developed a preparedness booklet for Spanish speaking communities called Our Future in Our Hands that covers mental health (available in both English and Spanish).
- Finally, find out about your county's Community Wildfire Protection Plan. CWPPs help communities address wildfire response, community preparedness, and structure protection.
