Smoke alarms are critical to home fire safety because they alert us to fire in its early stages. Even more important, they can alert us to a fire when we are most vulnerable – when we are asleep at night. According to the Office of State Fire Marshal, 80% of Oregon’s 41 fire fatalities occurred in homes in 2004.  The majority of the home fire victims died in homes without a working smoke alarm. The smoke alarms were not working, usually because batteries were dead, disconnected, or missing.

“The presence of a working smoke alarm significantly increases your chances of surviving a fire, and our program will ensure that more of our residents have that protection,” stated Fire Chief J. Kevin Henson.

Local funding for this program was provided by Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal Office, IAFF Local…

But the return of the child’s pulse was more than a fire department success, it was a success of the system. Prior to this call, citizens were trained in CPR, 911 dispatchers were trained in call taking and routing critical resources, law enforcement and fire departments were trained to assist each other, chaplains were trained on a comforting family members, and hospital doctors, nurses and staff were trained in pediatric care. The collaborative efforts of many enabled the system’s success. MCFD1 Fire Chief Kevin Henson stated that he was pleased with the response to the situation. “When an event like this happens, it great…

Each year, staff, students, and neighborhood surrounding the elementary schools of Auburn, Brooks, Clear Lake, Forest Ridge, Hayesville, Hazelgreen, Middle Grover, Marion Miller, Mary Eyre, Lamb, Livingston Jr. Academy, Scott, Yoshikai, and Head Start come together to gather food donations for families in need during the holiday season.

This year, our local schools have gone above and beyond the numbers from previous years with our top three collections from Four Corners Elementary with 5409 food items donated, Mary Eye with 4250, and Yoshikai with 4045.  Mary Eyre’s Community School Outreach Coordinator Priscilla Villalobos reported that the five 55-gallon drums of food were overflowing and additional boxes were needed to contain the generous donations. 

Fire District personnel along with assistance from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office arrived at schools this morning to begin loading…

They now have fundraisers throughout the year: Challenge coin sales, auctions, t-shirts, barbecues and assorted other fund raising efforts with a target of supporting our troops on the front lines or Forward Operating Bases (FOB) as their need is usually greater.

They utilize the website of www.anymarine.com or www.anysoldier.com to identify the units they want to support.  Typically their efforts impact our soldiers who have very few creature comforts.  Sometimes they have no electricity, cooking, or shower facilities.  For those sites, the troops indicated what they need, and that is where the efforts are focused.

They also recruit people to fill out Christmas Cards and letters to boost morale as a lot of troops do not have anyone to correspond with.

Bottom line, the dedicated men and women of our State Penitentiary quietly have created a very meaningful way to recognize and support our troops, their commitment to our country,…

Marion County Fire District No.1 wanted to make the day a little more special for the scouts and offered to transport them to and from the center using reserve engine 727 from Station 6, driven by FF J. Louthan.  During the trip to the center the troop received information about the fire engine and firefighting in general.

Before returning home, the engine stopped at the Whiteaker middle school parking lot for an interactive show and tell of the process of getting water from a hydrant, through the pump and to a hand line and the deck gun. The lack of warm air temperatures didn’t faze the scouts at all; everyone had a great time and learned a few things in the process.

On Wednesday, November 9 at 11:00 a.m. Oregonians will hear on their radios and see on their televisions a test of the emergency alert system (EAS). The test will last approximately thirty seconds.  Normal programming will return following the test.  This is a nationwide test organized by the FCC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

This test will be different than those in the past.  The November 9 test will utilize a “live” national alert code, i.e., a coded message that will present itself as an actual emergency announcement, not a test.  This is necessary in order to allow FCC and FEMA to test the actual working order reliability of legacy EAS equipment and the state of readiness of EAS operators and participants.  Television stations are being encouraged to run a scroll at the bottom of the screen throughout the test stating that it is just a test.

Oregon Office of Emergency Management (OEM), FEMA, Broadcasters, NOAA and many other agencies are diligently trying to get the word to people that this is, in fact, a test.  If anyone has questions about the test, please do NOT call 911.  Please tell your neighbors…

This year, our campaign is all about keeping you, your family, and your community safer from fire. Complete our Home Fire Safety Checklist to see how well prepared your family is and pick up a few tips to improve household fire prevention.

For more information about “National Prevention Week” and its history, the following links provide a wealth of fire safety information:

Oregon State Fire Marshal Publications

National Fire Protection Association general information as well as Safety Information for your family or classroom.

MCFD#1 personnel sent Engine 715 to the Forest Ridge Elementary event and Engine 725 to the Clear Lake Elementary. Volunteers Frank Hagen, Grant Feetham, Jared Ripley, Zach Zielinski, Trevor Daley, Lt. Aaron Iwaniw, and Lt. Mark Jennings participated for several hours in the two school events, jogging the track, posing for photographs with the children, and visiting with parents and teachers.   Chief Kevin Henson stated ‘we are very proud of our connection to the Clear Lake community and glad to serve as role models for young students.”