Ashland.news, Ashland Together, city of Ashland and CERT team co-hosted planning prep session at Ashland Grange

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news 

“What would you put in your go bag?” That was one of several questions put on several tables Sunday evening at the Ashland Grange for an evening of discussion of fire preparedness steps Ashlanders can take now to be better prepared for a wildfire emergency later. 

Around 70 residents filling the Ashland Grange were led through a series of evacuation thought exercises by Ashland Emergency Manager and former Almeda Fire incident commander Kelly Burns at an event co-hosted by Ashland.news, Ashland Together, the city of Ashland and the Ashland Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).

Moving through a lengthy presentation, Burns reviewed the ways the Almeda Fire swallowed ground at up to 40 miles per hour over the course of more than 30 hours, writing out a new litany of contingency planning by decimating previously reliable system after system. 

Fire hydrants failed along Talent Avenue. In mobile home parks, water lines were destroyed and water seeped uselessly into the ground. The surrounding area was burning too hot for either firefighters or city staff to reach manual gas turn-off switches. In one area the fire burned hot enough to move into the underground pipes and blow gas meters along rows of homes, jumping the fire from one address to another ahead of the initial wall of flames. 

Burns said that, from his vantage point in the command post, the reason the fire claimed only three lives instead of a during-the-incident projection of 40 was due to the cooperation and quick thinking of first responders and, more importantly, what average residents did to help each other get out of harm’s way. 

“You have more agency and more ability to figure out this situation than you know,” Burns told attendees. “Cops saved more lives than firefighters, but citizens saved way more lives than all of us together. People came together to help each other.” 

An evacuation warning starting out at the highest level — Level 3, go now — is possible, but unlikely, he said. Ashland and Southern Oregon residents will likely move through evacuation levels 1 and 2 (be ready, be set), offering at least some limited time to gather possessions, friends, family or pets in order to be ready to escape. 

But Level 2 may come soon after Level 1. Residents of the fire-endemic Pacific northwest should be perennially ready by keeping a go bag packed and practicing potential evacuation routes and back up routes, he said. Those with mobility challenges such as physical mobility or lack of a vehicle should plan their evacuation carefully. The housed should consider the unhoused or other vulnerable neighbors in their plans.

“There’s a good chance there won’t be a first responder at your door,” he said. 

Attendees of the event were led through discussion prompts in small groups beginning with the most ideal situation: Imagine oneself completely prepared and packed — what still needs to be done to evacuate? 

Sitting near the back, Chris Byrne said he had previously heard Burns say it would only take four simultaneous medical calls to overwhelm Ashland Fire and Rescue. 

“That’s how small their department is. There’s some real self-reliance that’s necessary. We need to take care of ourselves,” he said. 

Susan Black said she was responsible for both her elderly mother and her bed-bound aunt suffering from numerous health challenges. She wondered how smaller care facilities would evacuate the vulnerable lives in their care, or how family or friends should pack something like an oxygen tank. 

Byrne stated those on medications —  especially those requiring refrigeration such as insulin — should try to stock up. He has outfitted an electric bike with a heavy duty trailer to make it easier to evacuate across an irrigated lawn near his home because he knows a fire could cut off the single road access to his neighborhood.  

In subsequent discussions surrounding loss of communication systems or blocked roads, the group considered the value of obtaining radios or creating plans with loved ones to meet in pre-specified locations. Byrne stated he included a respirator along with extra socks and clothes in his go bag, while Black said she would consider including emergency blankets for compact and efficient warmth in case of cooler night temperatures and potentially subpar sheltering options. 

Burns advised breaking up the process of evacuation planning into smaller steps and completing one at a time, such as securing water, food or other basic needs in a car or practicing packing the vehicle and timing one’s escape on various routes. 

In closing the evening, Charisse Sydoriak, community liaison for Ashland’s Wildfire Protection Plan and volunteer with its CERT and Wildfire Risk Assessment Program (WRAP) programs, cautioned attendees that, in the event of a fire, they should be prepared for some semblance of what Burns saw in the Almeda Fire. 

“It is very likely that Murphy’s Law is going to take effect,” she said. “That’s not to scare you, but to prepare you for the uncertainties ahead.” 

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected].

Aug. 23: Corrected spelling of Chris Byrne’s last name.