March 2015
NEWS
The Southwest Portland Post • 3
Hillsdale NET leader is looking for volunteers to help during emergencies
On Sept. 11, 2014, crews from Portland Fire Bureau's Station 5 responded to a wildfire
on Southwest Capitol Highway near Terwilliger Boulevard. (Photo courtesy of Portland
Fire & Rescue)
people or putting out a fire are part
of the training to protect volunteers,
she added.
“You don’t put yourself in danger,”
she said, because an injured volunteer
couldn’t help neighbors.
Vo l u n t e e r s w h o s u c c e s s f u l l y
complete the initial training are
required to volunteer a total of 12
hours a year to remain team members.
The hours could include taking new
classes or participating in outreach
activities, DeGraaf said, as well as
attending volunteers’ informational
meetings.
“We all share information,” she said.
“It’s a communal type of program.”
DeGraaf lived in Milwaukie before
moving to Hillsdale about four years
ago. However, she previously lived in
Colorado where wildfires, she said,
“always are an issue.”
“Because it’s green and lush, you
think wildfires wouldn’t be a concern
here,” she said. “But that’s not true
a n y m o re . ” N E T i n f o r m a t i o n i s
available at this website: http://www.
portlandoregon.gov/pbem/31667.
Nighttime Closures
on SW Taylors Ferry Road
Sewer construction is closing SW Taylors Ferry Road on
weeknights from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. between SW Boones
Ferry Road and SW Macadam Avenue. Nighttime closures on
SW Taylors Ferry began in February and will last until this June.
For more project information, visit
www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/SWVentilation
or contact Ashley Tjaden at 503-823-5281 or
Ashley.Tjaden@portlandoregon.gov.
DETOUR FOR TAYLORS FERRY
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Lisa DeGraaf is looking for more
good people to help their neighbors
in times of emergency. In January,
she became head of the Hillsdale
Neighborhood Emergency Team and
Brett Matthews joined her as associate
team leader.
Volunteers throughout the city may
join neighborhood teams, which are
trained by the Portland Bureau of
Emergency Services to aid their own
families and neighbors in case of a
severe winter storm, flood, major
earthquake or other disaster.
A new concern for Hillsdale is
wildfire. Last September, sparks from
a downed electrical wire ignited dry
brush near Terwilliger Parkway and
Capitol Highway, sending flames up
the hillside and smoke throughout
the area.
The Fire Bureau doused the flames
fairly rapidly, but Glenn Bridger, who
lives in a cul de sac where smoke drifted,
brought the question of fire danger to
the Hillsdale Alliance earlier this year.
The Alliance includes representatives
of several neighborhood organizations
who meet quarterly to discuss issues
important to Hillsdale.
With much of the neighborhood
developed on hillsides with thick
brush, temperatures gradually rising
and culs de sac without escape routes,
Alliance representatives agreed that
residents need more information about
how to protect themselves from fire.
DeGraaf talked to staff at the Fire
Bureau’s Station 5 and learned a video
and other information are available
for residents. In addition, she said, the
bureau has specially trained mobile
wildfire units to fight blazes like the
one Hillsdale saw last September.
Bureau personnel also can advise
residents on creating “defensible
space” around their homes. This means
moving flammable material such
as firewood, tree limbs, recreational
vehicles and boats away from the
house. Fire-resistant roofs, siding and
decks also are advised.
After pointing out to firefighters
that residents need safety information,
DeGraaf said, “It’s on their radar, and
they are ramping up a bit of their
outreach.”
The Hillsdale NET, she said, will
follow up and add information about
emergency teams at the Hillsdale
Farmer’s Market and other gatherings.
DeGraaf joined Hillsdale’s team
after reading about the program in a
newspaper article more than a year
ago. She took the 30-hour training
course which includes first aid, radios
and communication, and search
and rescue of people in collapsed
buildings.
In the training, she also learned how
the Bureau of Emergency Services,
the Fire Bureau and other agencies
communicate and coordinate activities
during emergencies.
Techniques for safely rescuing
FE
By Janet Goetze
The Southwest Portland Post