We are grateful to this Youth Crew for coming in throughout July to mitigate several homes on behalf of Oregon State Fire Marshall and RRVCP! Thank you Al Kennedy Youth Crew Leaders and Youth! High Five!  ~RRVCP

From our Partners at Al Kennedy School Youth Crew

Written by Youth Crew Team Leaders Jennifer Powell and Matt Hall

The work we’re doing with the Row River Valley area is mainly concentrated in the 0-30′ zone around the homes and structures we’re attending, but please look at the PDF’s for guidance on how to thin and trim vegetation and trees out to 100′ around your place. Keeping the fire on the ground (and preventing it from climbing into tree crowns) makes a huge difference! Also – doing that thinning out to 100′ changes how fires advance toward the structures you want to protect.

Thank you to ALL of you for being fire wise and we look forward to serving you and Row River Valley in any way we are able. We’re enjoying meeting so many of you very much and look forward to working together to keep you and your homes safe!

Best regards,  Jennifer Powell & Matt Hall 

Al Kennedy High School Youth Crew Leaders

Here are some helpful links we’ve come across to help give you proven fire suppression steps to take and possible products to use to make your home and property more resilient against upcoming fires.

This is the first PDF that helps explain best protocols for creating defensible space 

This next PDF is great because it helps us understand why each step we take makes a difference.

This link takes you to a website that offers fire retardant paint and treatments for wood siding. Whether it’s your shed or your home, we’ve noticed many of you have structures sided with wood. These products, or similar products, might be something to consider if you’re not ready to re-side the structure completely. This is only one website for products. Feel free to research which fire retardant coating might work best for your structures. We’re just wanting you to know such a thing exists! 

Lastly, here is a great documentary that is very informative on wildfires and what we can do to be resilient in this new ‘normal’ of increased wildfire intensity.