Oregon utilities promote wildfire awareness: Get ready for fire season by preparing now and staying informed
PORTLAND, Ore. — In recognition of National Wildfire Awareness Month, the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC), Portland General Electric, Pacific Power and Idaho Power encourage Oregonians to prepare for wildfire season. Everyone has a part to play this summer in keeping our communities safe.
PGE, Pacific Power and Idaho Power invest year-round to prevent wildfire and deliver safe, reliable power to the homes and communities that depend on it. They partner with tribes and federal, state and local agencies to plan and prepare for the upcoming wildfire season.
“We’ve had an unusually dry winter across much of Oregon, and that means wildfire season may arrive earlier and with greater intensity,” said Commissioner Chair Letha Tawney. “Even as Oregon electric utilities invest billions to reduce wildfire risk, customers need to be ready for potential outages when fire danger is high. The changing risk of extreme wildfires touches every Oregon community and requires all of us to take steps now to reduce the chance of catastrophe.”
Resources to help Oregonians prepare for wildfire season are available at wildfire.oregon.gov, including guidance on staying informed, evacuation planning and creating defensible space to help prevent wildfire.
PGE, Pacific Power and Idaho Power also share these additional tips on ways to stay safe and be prepared this fire season.
Have a plan
- Consider relocating with a friend, family member or shelter, especially if medication or treatment of a medical condition requires electricity.
- Businesses should communicate their outage-response plans to key employees, plan for workarounds to computers and cash registers and make a plan to bypass electronic door locks.
- Plan for livestock water needs in case well pumps lose power.
- Know how to open and close electric garage doors and security gates.
- Learn how to protect home and business electronics and appliances against data loss and surge damage when power is restored.
Make an outage kit
Prepare your home and businesses by making an outage kit to use in case wildfire leads to a power outage.
- Be sure to include shelf-stable food, water for people, pets and livestock, medications, flashlights, batteries and solar or car chargers for electric devices. Keep ice packs or frozen water in the freezer to help keep food cold until ice is available.
- Outage kits should also include flashlights or camp lights for all areas, including restrooms, battery-powered or hand-crank radios for information, battery-powered fans, extra batteries, car chargers for cell phones and electric devices, bottled water and emergency phone numbers.
- Businesses should prepare to minimize disruption, keep employees safe and protect equipment.
Stay informed
Here are a few steps you can take to make sure you receive up-to-date wildfire information:
- Contact your electricity provider or log in to your account and make sure all contact information is current so you can receive alerts and messages.
- If you rely on electricity to store medication or operate medical equipment, enroll in your electric provider’s Medical Certificate Program, if available, to receive proactive communications about outages. Make a backup plan with your doctor and other medical providers.
- Visit Oregon Alert to find your local alert system. Provide current contact details and sign up for wildfire alerts.
Information, resources and checklists
- Pacific Power customers can visit PacificPower.net/Wildfire for resources and information including an outage preparation checklist for customers, an interactive map outlining public safety power shutoff areas.
- PGE customers can visit portlandgeneral.com/wildfiresafety for information about how PGE works to protect people, property and public spaces.
- Idaho Power customers can visit idahopower.com/wildfire to learn more about summer outage preparedness and what Idaho Power is doing to protect the grid from wildfires.