Fire Chief Tony Prior spoke at our October 4th meeting. Hearing Tony talk about Sisters Fire really make you think about how many moving parts there are to running an agency like this. Between budgeting, staffing, equipment readiness and purchasing, it's a lot! Planning years down the road is a necessity, not an option.
Tony recalled the Akawa fire this past summer. Some may not know just how close it was to a far bigger problem. He remarked that hard work can only do so much, mother nature and luck really saved us on that one.
That experience fed directly into his next topic, wildfire preparedness. Chief Tony repeated that you need to do your part to make your home and property defensible in the case of a fire, firefighters can only do so much if there is no defensible space around you home. Depending on what fire district you are in, both local fire districts have programs to send out experts to assess your property and discuss changes that can make all the difference.
A big thanks to Tony for keeping it top of mind awareness!
Join us at our next meeting October 18th to hear Sharon Karr talk about the Camp Polk Cemetery, Sisters history and her book "Around Sisters". Meetings are open to the public, first and second Wenesdays of the month at SPRD.