August 2019
Published by the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal
The Value of Education and Data Collection
Starting in late May and through July, all of the fire services increased their public education efforts to prevent potential fires caused by fireworks. The Office of State Fire Marshal appreciates its partners’ work in sharing messages to the media, as well as on social media, about the health and safety risks from illegal fireworks use around the Fourth of July — the busiest single day nationally for fireworks-caused fires. Thank you to everyone who supported this statewide educational effort.

In late July, an illegal campfire triggered the state’s first major wildfire of the 2019 fire season near Canyonville. As of July 31, the Milepost 97 Fire had burned more than 12,000 acres and had led to evacuation notices in neighboring communities. The OSFM has been in regular communication with the Oregon Department of Forestry’s incident management team and working with local mutual aid to create plans should additional resources be needed.

At this time last year, there were already five conflagrations called. However, western Oregon still faces above-normal wildfire risk. All local, state, and federal fire service crews statewide continue to respond to human-caused fires within the wildland urban interface, which makes fire safety education critical in preventing these types of incidents.

The 2018 Office of State Fire Marshal Annual Report was released last month, which highlights our core service areas from inspections and fire investigations to hazardous material responses. This also includes statewide fire statistics and data on conflagration mobilizations. As we collect data from our fire service partners through Image Trend Elite, it allows our office to understand the risks and trends to Oregon’s communities. Therefore, it is important the data input is accurate, as this information helps reduce the risks from fires and hazardous materials and ensures we are fulfilling our mission to promote public safety.

The 2019 legislative session recently wrapped up on June 30. Through House Bill 2209, railroad companies are required to have oil spill contingency plans and to create funds that will pay for any potential oil cleanups. Those funds will go towards an FTE position within our office to coordinate triennial tabletop exercises, and a full-scale, multiagency, multijurisdictional, and multidisciplinary exercise.

Under House Bill 2206, our office will develop and run the Oregon Safety Assessment Program, to set standards for training and certifying building evaluators and for determining if buildings can be safely occupied after an emergency. This will include a statewide emergency registry system of local program coordinators, certified building evaluators, and approved trainers.

Lastly, Gov. Kate Brown's adopted 2019-21 agency budget will increase the petroleum load fee. This increase will help support our Regional Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Team program, supporting 13 teams statewide, at current industry response standards.

Enjoy the summer and let’s all do our part to prevent wildfires.
Oregon State Fire Marshal Jim Walker
Bill Expands OSFM’s Role in HazMat Rail Spill Training
The Oregon Legislature approved House Bill 2209 this past session, requiring railroads that own or operate high-hazard train routes to develop oil-spill contingency plans and to have those plans reviewed and approved by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). It also sets additional requirements to the plan adopted by the Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) for a coordinated response to oil or hazardous material spills or releases that occur during rail transport. These additional OSFM requirements include:

  • Providing training for a coordinated response to an oil or a hazardous material spill or release that occurs during rail transport;

  • Tabletop exercises that include the DEQ, the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Office of Emergency Management, state and local responders, and federally recognized Native American tribes in Oregon and railroads that operate in this state;

  • Statewide functional exercises to test and evaluate response capabilities, functional groups, plans, incident command staff, and emergency operations centers in their abilities to respond to an oil or a hazardous material spill or release that occurs during rail transport; and

  • Full-scale, multiagency, multijurisdictional, and multidisciplinary exercises that cover the sequence of events of an oil or hazardous material spill or release that occurs during a rail transport incident and that validates planning, coordination and command, and control decisions established in existing local, state, and federal response plans.

Given the significant work involved with planning, preparing, and implementing these types of exercises, the OSFM anticipates hiring a HazMat Training and Exercise Specialist in the near future to coordinate these new responsibilities. These new provisions complement the planning, training, and resource coordination initiatives under House Bill 3225, passed in 2015. The new position will work closely with the OSFM’s current HazMat Rail Coordinator, Regional HazMat Emergency Response Teams Program Coordinator, and Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) Program Coordinator.

For more information regarding the OSFM’s HazMat Rail programs and initiatives, please visit our webpage.
Honoring the Service and Sacrifice of OSFM’s Family
June 22 was both a memorable and bittersweet day for Shawna Fenison, Compliance Specialist 2 with the Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) and a Gold Star mother. 

That afternoon, Fenison’s late son, PFC Ryan J. Hill, was recognized by more than 70 people, including dignitaries and senior OSFM staff, at the “reveal party” for the official state highway sign that honors Hill’s service and sacrifice in Iraq. The event was held at a public park in Keizer also bearing Hill's name. 

Hill is the only Keizer resident to have been killed in the line of duty in any conflict. Hill died in combat serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq in January 2007.

“It’s easy to forget that sacrifice,” Fenison said. “When you see a sign, take a minute to say, ‘Thank you.’”

Keizer Mayor Cathy Clark and State Rep. Bill Post (R-Keizer) attended the ceremony, along with Hill’s former team members who served with him in Iraq, Ian Newland and Billy Field. OSFM attendees included Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple and Assistant Deputy Fire Marshals Claire McGrew, Mark Johnston, and Chad Hawkins. Fenison’s co-workers also came.

Getting the memorial sign first required a special legislative resolution. The day of the state House of Representatives vote in April, Fenison was joined on the house floor by her manager, Johnston, and Oregon State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton. 

Fenison expressed gratitude for the support she received from the OSFM, her employer the past seven years. Those years stand out among her 21 years of state service. She said the sacrifice she sees from OSFM staff and the fire service during fire season remind her of her son’s spirit of service.  

Fenison still keeps the words of her son close at hand.

“I ask that you remember your freedoms and that we willingly gave ours up to protect our loved ones back home,” Hill wrote to his mother, just months before his death, after he lost a friend in combat. “That you keep us in your thoughts and prayers in good times and in bad. Because to tell you the truth, all we wanted was a better life for us and for our loved ones. Some of us won't make it back from this place and we shall never forget them. The rest of us who are here will keep fighting for you and those you love.”

On July 1, the Oregon Department of Transportation installed the sign honoring PFC Hill on southbound Interstate 5, between mileposts 261 and 262. 
Expanding Statewide
Mutual Aid 
Oregon Structural Fire Service providing aid to the Camp Fire in California, 2018  
In the past few years, OSFM has been working with Fire Defense Districts across Oregon who are interested in expanding their own local mutual aid plans or building their capacity to mobilize through the Conflagration Act. Staff have traveled from Bandon to Baker City to — most recently — Tillamook, to aid the structural fire service in understanding the requirements laid out in the Oregon Fire Service Mobilization Plan and work through how to engage with surrounding districts locally and statewide. 

These conversations have been very successful, with many agencies expanding their own local mutual aid plans and some now engaging in the statewide system. Expanded local mutual aid is a huge benefit to Oregon, as it provides additional suppression resources in the time of greatest need. Similarly, resources mobilized through the state system provide an invaluable asset to a community threatened by fire.  

Fire Defense Board Chiefs interested in expanding capacity are encouraged to contact Mariah Rawlins by email: Mariah.Rawlins@state.or.us.  
Bigfoot T-Shirts Help Spread Fire Safety Messages
Jenn Bratton recently won a Bigfoot T-shirt and is committed to fire safety.
The Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) continues to reach out to Oregonians this summer to educate residents about wildfire risks in the wildland urban interface, commonly known as the WUI .

In these areas, near many Oregon communities, homes and other structures are located in woodland settings or near forests and face higher risk from fires that can be caused by debris burns, unattended campfires, other human-related causes, and lightning. The OSFM introduced Bigfoot this spring to spread the message about fire safety, especially for residents living in the WUI and in communities at risk of wildland fires.

We held our first Facebook contest in early July, open to all Oregon adults, giving away 10 highly coveted Bigfoot T-shirts to Oregonians who were randomly selected from hundreds of contest participants.

All of our participants answered our question on Facebook: What can you do to prevent wildfires to protect homes in the wildland urban interface? Many of the replies showed residents are educated how to reduce risks to their home, property, and communities.

A second contest was recently completed giving away 25 Bigfoot-branded cell phone holders to residents who answered our question: How would you make sure your campfire is out before leaving the campsite or calling it a night? We received dozens of answers that showed residents understand fire safety.

Thanks to everyone who has shared our Bigfoot images on your favorite social media. Please help spread the word to your friends, families, neighbors, and out-of-state visitors with our Bigfoot images and messaging materials , which are free and available on the OSFM website. 
Meet Deputy State Fire Marshal Scott Rice
This is our second profile of Office of State Fire Marshal's Deputy State Fire Marshals (DSFMs). This series highlights their partnerships and contributions promoting safety for Oregonians and our communities.

Where do you work?
I am assigned to work in Klamath, Lake, and parts of Jackson counties.

Tell us about your background before you became a deputy state fire marshal.
I was hired full time in 1983 as the first firefighter paramedic in Klamath Falls with Klamath County Fire District 1. I taught multiple EMT classes to agencies in Klamath County for many years. In 1996 I was assigned to work in the fire prevention division after an on-the job-injury. I enjoyed the work so much that I tested and was promoted to the Fire Prevention Officer level. Several years later they changed the title to Deputy Fire Marshal. In 2011 I was promoted to Fire Marshal.

What makes you most proud of being a DSFM?
I am flying the flag for the Office of State Fire Marshal, helping mostly the smaller fire departments that do not have the personnel or that have issues that I can help with or at least send them in the right direction.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
The relief I see in fire chiefs’ faces when I arrive to assist in whatever the need is at the time.

What would you like the public to know about your job?
What people don't realize is that we are there to make things better. The inspections are done to prevent or lessen the damage if a fire were to occur, and fire investigations are, for the most part, trying to find the cause to make changes in the building code to prevent or lessen the damage if a fire happens in the future.

Looking back on 2018, what was your most successful activity in your assigned district that had the most impact in protecting the lives of Oregonians or preventing fire in Oregon?
In 2018 we were successful in getting the first signed mutual aid agreement with the structural fire departments in Lake County. In August of 2018 the agreement was used during the Watson Creek Fire. A team of structural engines and water tenders made up from multiple departments arrived early in the fire to protect the small town of Paisley along with many scattered ranch homes in central Lake County area. The fire burned for more than 14 days and destroyed more than 40,000 acres. Although ranchers lost livestock in the fire, no homes were damaged and the departments worked together to provide protection.
Code Corner
By OSFM Code Deputy David Mills 

New Annual Fire Inspection
Requirement for Auto Dismantlers
State lawmakers during the 2019 legislative session passed Senate Bill 792, which makes several changes to the current Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) auto dismantler program. Changes include reducing the certification period from three years to one, lowering the fee from $800 to $500, requiring a fire response plan approved by ODOT, and proof of any applicable permits required by Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. 

The legislation also requires dismantler businesses to have premises inspected annually by local fire departments and furnish written reports to ODOT. 

The Oregon Fire Code in Chapter 34 addresses a key component of fire risk at these facilities, namely, tire storage. Each year, more than 270 million vehicle tires are disposed of in the United States. 

Recycling, reuse, and energy recovery are having a major impact, but tire storage continues to present an environmental and fire safety hazard. Scrap tires are not generally considered a hazardous waste; however, if a tire fire occurs, tires break down into hazardous compounds including gases, heavy metals, and oil. 

The requirements of Chapter 34 are intended to minimize the impact of tire storage fires by segregating the various operations and controlling ignition sources.

Please look forward to more information from ODOT on the process, forms, and procedures necessary to document the inspection and certification process.
Wilson to Lead the Oregon Volunteer Firefighters Association
Lt. Zack Wilson, of the Umatilla Rural Fire Protection District, was elected President of the Oregon Volunteer Firefighters Association ( OVFA) during the group’s June Training Conference in Redmond.  

Wilson’s priorities for the upcoming year include increasing benefits for its members and all volunteer firefighters statewide, expanding the OVFA’s membership, boosting the annual conference’s participation, and seeking input from OVFA members and nonmembers about how the organization can meet their needs. 

Wilson succeeds former President Jason Servatius, a firefighter/EMT with Jackson County Fire District #3. Lt./EMT Frank Day of Crooked River Ranch Fire and Rescue was also elected to the OVFA Board of Directors.  

Sam Flaherty, of Coquille Fire and Rescue, was selected 2019 Volunteer of the Year, and Leroy Smith of the Corbett Fire District was honored with the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award.  

Next year’s OVFA Training Conference will be held June 2-6, 2020, in Eugene.
Lawmakers Approve Oregon Safety Assessment Program
The Pacific Northwest coast has, for thousands of years, experienced periodic and catastrophic seismic events related to the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ), extending from northern California to British Columbia. However, it was not until the 1980s when scientists recognized the CSZ as an active fault that poses a major threat to Oregon. Since then, building codes have been updated, and state and regional preparations have been undertaken to prepare Oregonians and the state's infrastructure and governments to better sustain an earthquake, as well as recover following such an event.

To support emergency preparedness, the Legislature passed House Bill 2206. The bill directs the Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM) to administer a statewide program to conduct post-disaster building assessments after an emergency to determine which buildings may be safely occupied. The OSFM will work with local governments to designate local program coordinators to assist in implementing the program. State Fire Marshal Jim Walker will work with legislators to obtain funding in the 2020 short legislative session.
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