vernonia rural fire protection district
may21
2020
5
Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District
Thank You
for Your Support on Election Day!
Open Burning of Yard Debris

With a valid burn permit, issued by the
Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District, those
of you who live within our coverage area can
legally burn your yard debris. This includes
leaves, tree trimmings, and last year’s garden
debris. This does NOT include, left over con-
struction debris, such as lumber, roofing ma-
terials, or plastics. Additionally, you are NOT
allowed to burn HOUSEHOLD GARBAGE.

Recently we have been getting several
complaints concerning open burning within the
city limits. Because of all of the rain that we
have received over the past few months, all of
your yard debris is water soaked and not easily
burnable. This condition creates a lot of smoke
that permeates throughout your neighborhood.

If you are going to attempt to burn
your yard debris, please be considerate of your
neighbors and your neighborhood. No one likes
having their immediate area filled with smoke
coming from your open burn pit.

Please make sure that you burn small
quantities of yard debris at a time, and make
sure that you have a “hot” fire while doing so.
Adding small amounts of debris at a time and
keeping your fire well ventilated will help it
to burn instead of smolder. You can use a yard
leaf blower or any other device that will supply
your fire with plenty of air to keep it burning
with an open flame instead of just smoldering.

If you fail to burn your yard debris in
a manner that keeps the smoke to a minimum,
your actions may result in a warning or cita-
tion. Please be considerate of your neighbors
while you dispose of your yard debris by burn-
ing them in a fire pit.

Thank you for your continued support,
Staff and Volunteers
P.I.O. VRFPD
Service
During COVID-19

Recruitment
hasn’t
been easy during the COVID-19
Pandemic – closing our station
to the public to reduce exposure
possibilities to the staff is way
outside of our norm.

In times of change, we
must change in the same ways
our community restaurants, and
everyone else has.

Last week we began an
option to deliver an application
to a community member inter-
ested in volunteering. We’re
also delivering burn permits
right to your house! We are
adapting to the changes, and
doing everything we can to
continue to serve our commu-
nity. We can’t guarantee same
day delivery but we have been
getting within a couple days of
a call into the station for the
burn permits.

As Columbia County
starts to open up, we will re-
open the station soon and we
look forward to seeing all of
you again. To our community
members, thank you for your
support, and if you think you
want to volunteer, give us a call
and see what we are about!
Rob Davis
Recruitment & Retention
Coordinator
What Is The Emergency Conflagration Act?

The Office of State Fire Marshal
(OSFM) assists and supports the Oregon
fire service during major emergency op-
erations through the Conflagration Act
(ORS 476.510). The Conflagration Act
was developed in 1940 as a civil defense
measure and can be invoked only by the
governor. The act allows the State Fire
Marshal to mobilize firefighters and
equipment from around the state. The
Conflagration Act is only used for fires
that involve or threaten life and struc-
tures.

When there is a wildland fire,
the Oregon Department of Forestry,
along with local fire departments in the
immediate area, respond to fight the
wildland fire.

The State is divided into Fire
Defense Districts. The Local Chief of
that Fire Defense District works with
Deputy State Fire Marshal & Fire De-
fense Board Chief to request assistance
from the State Fire Marshal. At that
point, the State Fire Marshall requests
that the Governor implement the Confla-
gration Act, which enables the Office of
State Fire Marshal to request equipment
and firefighters from around the State of
Oregon.

The Oregon Office of State Fire
Marshal’s three Incident Management
Teams (IMTs) provide comprehensive
incident command to manage ongoing
emergency operations. IMTs provide
incident management expertise in logis-
tics, finance, planning, public informa-
tion, operations, safety, and community
issues.

IMTs respond with resources
mobilized by the Governor for a con-
flagration or other emergency that has
overwhelmed the control and resources
of local emergency responders. IMTs
enhance effective coordination among
responding agencies during fires, floods,
earthquakes, structural collapse, tsuna-
mis, the spilling of hazardous materials,
and other natural or human-caused inci-
dents.

The IMT will develop a plan of
action to aggressively and safely miti-
gate the incident to which it has been as-
signed, either through Unified Command
or a single incident command structure.

Resources assigned to the inci-
dent will operate with the guidance of
an Incident Action Plan (IAP) within an
organized chain of command and for-
mal safety plan. The IAP will address
the objectives, strategies, and tactics as
dictated by the risks and opportunities
associated with the incident.

The IMT commits resources to
the incident only after resources have
been briefed on the developing strategy
and tactics, resource-specific objectives,
weather, fuel types, and safety consider-
ations. Within the second operational pe-
riod, the IMT develops a formal IAP for
delivery via an Operational Period Brief-
ing. The IMT expects that all personnel
shall receive a briefing by their imme-
diate supervisor prior to being deployed
within the hazard area. This briefing
shall detail resource assignments, as-
signed objectives, chain of command,
and safety considerations.

The IMT may place firefighters
at a greater level of risk to save lives,
save property, or reduce environmental
impact.

From 1996 to 2016, there were
70 Conflagrations in the State of Oregon.

Short Summary:
• Conflagrations declared: 70
• Most in one year: 11 in 2002
• Most in one week: 5 in 1996 and 5 in
2002
• Most in one day: 3 in 1996

One example, from 2015,
would be the “Grizzly Bear Complex”
fire.
• Conflagration date: 8.20.2015
• Communities threatened: Flora (Wal-
lowa County)
• Umatilla National Forest at WA border
• Structures threatened: (405) residences
and (98) other structures
• Structures saved: (400) residences and
(78) other structures
• Structures lost: (25)
• OSFM-mobilized Task Forces: Marion,
Yamhill, Clatsop, Columbia, and Union
counties
• Conflagration mobilization cost:
$736,540.44
• Cause: Lighting

You’ll notice that in the Grizzly
Bear Complex fire example, the OSFM
mobilized a Task Force that was made
up from fire departments in Marion,
Yamhill, Clatsop, Columbia, and Union
counties. Each department brought the
equipment (fire truck) and personnel to
staff the equipment.

All of the fire departments that
join the Conflagration are reimbursed for
all of the expenses that are incurred. The
fire departments that send equipment
and personnel must have Workman’s
Comp. Insurance on all of the personnel
involved.
Information for this article was obtained
from: http://www.oregon.gov/osp/SFM/.
Calls responded to April 1-30
Fire
Emergency Medical Service
Hazardous Condition
Service Call
Good Intent
False Alarm
Total
1
48
0
12
3
1
65