Spring Break Bike Riding

What are your plans for spring break? Maybe a family camping trip to nearby Stub Stewart State Park, or a day trip over the Wilson River Highway to the Tillamook Cheese Factory is in store for you this year; but what if you can't get away? Forest Grove Schools will be out starting Thursday of this week and spring break will continue until school resumes on Monday, March 29th. During that time we expect to see more and more kids on their bicycles riding to destinations all over the community. Parents, before your kids hit the bike lanes help them out and talk to them about bike safety.

Perhaps the most important life saving tool your kids can wear is a properly fitting bike helmet. This video from Safe Kids USA will help you understand how to ensure that their head is protected from injury. We have responded to dozens of bicycle crashes in the last few years and these helmets really do save lives as well as prevent serious injuries.

A bike helmet only helps in a crash, so what else can you do to make sure that the crash doesn't happen in the first place? Start by checking out the bike, are the tires inflated properly? What about reflectors, are they visible on all sides of the bicycle? If not reflective stickers can be found at local bicycle shops to help make the bike more visible at night or in low light. Finally take a second and make sure that all of the moving parts are in good condition. The chain is lubricated, the brakes actually will stop the bicycle, and all of the nuts and bolts are still tight.

Lastly talk to your kids, know where they are riding, who they are riding with and when they will be expected to return. Have a conversation with them about the rules of the road and be sure they understand where they can and can't ride their bicycles. If you have areas where you don't want them to ride (like busy streets, rural roads, etc.) explain to them why. Kids will be kids, most of us (especially the boys) tried all kinds of crazy stunts with our bikes in our youth and we would be foolish parents to expect that our kids wouldn't try and do the same things. At the same time taking a few minutes to check out those bikes that have been sitting in the garage all winter, and having a simple chat can make a difference preventing an accident or decreasing the chance of injury if an accident does occur.

So whether your travelling or staying home next week from all of us at FGF&R, have a safe spring break.

Spring Backyard Burning Season

March 1, begins the annual spring backyard burning season. Now is the time to clear your yard debris and dispose of them before the summer months. The spring burn season is regulated by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and typically runs from March 1 to June 15. It is important to note that DEQ consideres the air quality of each day when they decide to open burning or not. Fire departments can close burning, but only because of fire safety concerns such as hot and dry weather. This fire safety burn ban generally starts in July and runs into October, but it can start earlier if weather conditions dictate a concern for fire safety. To find out if burning is allowed you can call 503.992.3242 every day to hear a pre-recorded message on our open burning hotline.

Backyard burning is allowed in Forest Grove and the surrounding communities and cities. DEQ does have an open burning ban area in Washington County, but it does not include the areas protected by our fire department. In the city of Forest Grove there are alternatives to burning that you may want to consider this spring. Perhaps the easiest is the curb side green waste debris containers from our Waste Management hauler. This weekly service can help most residential customers get rid of their unused yard debris.

If you are a gardner a great debris removal option may be composting. This "green" method can help you rid yourself of your yard debris while at the same time creating wonderful soil for your garden. I have personally found that composting takes a little effort and practice to get the methods to work, but if you have a little bit of extra room you can easily dispose of your yard debris and some household waste as well all the while creating awesome soil for use in your yard and garden.

If these options do not work for you or your property you can burn your debris. Some fire safety guidelines and good ideas if you do choose to burn your debris:

1. Only burn dry debris, covering your piles during the rainy days can cut down on the smoke and complaints that we recieve from frustrated neighbors.
   
2. Only burn legal debris, back yard burning is for yard debris like limbs and brush, burning garbage, lumber, or other materials is strictly against the DEQ open burning regulations and can bring a hefty fine from the local DEQ office.
   
3. Locate your burn well away from anything that can burn like fences, structures, and other vegetation and landscaping. Also clear all grass so you have a three foot wide fire break of bare dirt around your burn pile. This will help prevent the grass from burning or escaping sparks from igniting things you dont want it to.
   
4. Always attend your burn pile, have a garden hose, and one of a shovel/pitchfork/rake avaialble to help control the fire if it starts to get out of hand. If you think the fire is at risk of getting out of control call 9-1-1 immediately.
   
5. Once you are done burning please make sure that the fire is completely out. Just like a campfire in the summer time, soak your ash and debris with water and stir them with a shovel until you can no longer notice any steam.

This burn pile near Dilley got out of control and spread to the surrounding field last summer

Some phone numbers and resources that you may need this burn season:

• Open Burning Hotline for daily burning updates 503.992.3242 (updated daily by 8:30 am)
  
• Emergency dispatch for out of control burns 9-1-1. Other non emergency calls please use the 24 hour non emergency number 503.629.0111.
  
• To report an air quality complaint, smoke, or other illegal burning please call the Portland DEQ office at 503.229.5393.
  
• DEQ Open Burning Guide to help answer your questions regarding open burning infomration

One final thing, the always present question about agricultural burning. Ag burning is considered by the DEQ to be for burning debris from an actual farming operation. We commonly get questions from rural residents that ask if they can burn because back yard burning is closed, but Ag burning is open. Ag burning is not intended for typical land debris removal for our rural community unless it is from an agricultural operation.

Earthquakes in Oregon?

Today we were all shocked to see the second major quake strike planet earth this year. At the same time this should be a sobering reminder of the unpredictability of these types of events and our vulnerability to them in our peaceful little part of NW Oregon.

According to the United States Geological Survey there are fault zones that exist right here in the Portland Metro Area and in our very own part of the Gales Creek Valley. In fact the Cascadia Subduction Zone has the potential to create a much larger quake then the 8.8 magnitude that struck Chile this morning. So what does this all mean, should you pack up the family and move from your homes? No, it just means that you need to be more prepared then ever for a disaster to strike. We're fortunate in and around Forest Grove, thunderstorms are rare, our weather is mild, and our flooding typically stays where we know it will flood. Still it doesn't mean that a disaster cant happen here.

In our area, winter wind and rain storms can be severe, one of Oregon's largest wildfires happened in the very coast range mountains we look at when we look west from our homes or offices, and the threat of earthquakes is very real. So what to do?

We suggest you start simple. Do you have a family emergency plan? It can be as easy as a written or drawn up plan on how to escape your home. Include important phone numbers such as 9-1-1 and our non emergency dispatch number 503.629.0111, as well as family contact numbers. But the plan wont work as easily if you don't practice it. Once a month, at different times of the day and night, put your plan into practice. Does every one in your home know two ways out? They should, and that is what your plan will show them how to do. If you need a sheet to get started stop in we have planning work sheets that you can have.

Once your plan is completed and practiced, it is time to create a 72 hour disaster supply kit. These can be simple to create using items around the home that you may already have on hand. A few years ago for an event our Safety Educators created a kit for 2 people and were able to put all of it into a new plastic garbage can. It worked well for a water resistant easy storage container. Here is what we suggest that you look at putting into your kit:

• Food – ready to eat or requiring minimal water
• Water - One gallon per person per day
• Manual can opener and other cooking supplies
• Plates, utensils and other feeding supplies
• First Aid Kit & instructions
• A copy of important documents & phone numbers
• Warm clothes and rain gear for each family member.
• Heavy work gloves
• Disposable camera
• Unscented liquid household bleach and an eyedropper for water purification
• Personal hygiene items including toilet paper, feminine supplies, hand sanitizer and soap
• Plastic sheeting, duct tape and utility knife for covering broken windows
• Tools such as a crowbar, hammer & nails, staple gun, adjustable wrench and bungee cords.
• Blanket or sleeping bag
• Large heavy duty plastic bags and a plastic bucket for waste and sanitation
• Any special-needs items for children, senior, or people with disabilities . Don’t forget water and supplies for your pets.

FGF&R is working on providing community emergency response team training for our neighbors and will let you know as soon as our new program begins sometime hopefully this year. Other good training that you can take now would be our monthly CPR courses (call Firefighter Ivan Bratchuk at 503.992.3240), or look for a basic first aid class at a community college, red cross chapter, or local hospital. In a major emergency we will look to the community to help each other and to help us. Preparing now can make a difference if and when it does happen here.