Neighborhood Resilience
Next Resilience Committee Meeting
Latest News
- The AFD is now accepting requests to visit homes to conduct a Firewise inspection. These are free and a valuable way to identify how you reduce the risk of a wildfire damaging your home.
- ISER/Dr. Jen Schmidt has released a new set of wildfire exposure and risk maps, that followed the work done to assess Anchorage wildfire and egress issues and a study on how climate changes are impacting Anchorage home owners.
- ISER/Dr. Jen Schmidt has published a community report on the future scenarios for Anchorage and adaptation to climate change with an Anchorage wildfire fact sheet.
- Visit our table at the BLM Wildfire Resource and Awareness event we are supporting this year May 9th at the Campbell Creek Science Center from 6-8 PM. All of the area wildfire response organizations will be attending. Its a great event for families and kids to see the big rigs and learn about Ready-Set-Go and how to sign up or do a self Firewise inspection of your home. Event Flyer
Wildfire Awareness Meeting Materials (Spring Training)
- Self Assessment Form
- Firewise Community Brochure
- Videos to watch before/after the program:
- Keeping homes safe from wildfire
- Making your property more resistant to wildfire
- The McKinley Fire: Rebuilding and Lessons Learned
- Why some homes survived: Learning from the Fort McMurray wildfire disaster
Annual Schedule of Hillside Awareness and Hazard Reduction Awareness Programs
- August/September: Start of heating season soon.
- Schedule maintenance, replace smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm batteries or check dates on extended life alarms.
- Chimney cleaning for wood burning fireplace/stove stacks.
- September/October: Wind and Power Outage Preparation.
- Late season tree trimming and thinning to avoid wind damage and reduce spring fire load.
- Furnace inspections.
- October/November: Winter driving on the hillside and Slips and Falls on Ice.
- Tires, traction devices, sand and snow clearing safety.
- Checking on neighbors who could be stranded when the roads are hazardous.
- After major snow fall:
- Check that your house numbers remain visible.
- Maintain the width of your driveways, berms at intersections, and any trees bent over by snow do not make it impossible for emergency response vehicles to get to you.
- If you have hydrants, you can help dig them out (with a shovel to avoid damage).
- Monitor your roof loads and build up of ice dams.
- December/January: Heating and Fire Safety.
- This is a great time to have a warm inside neighborhood meeting to review and update your local plans:
- Phone trees;
- Evacuation plans (Ready Set Go) and Go Bag;
- Shelter in place plans (fire, earthquake, power outage);
- Safehouse in area (home damage from earthquake, wildfire shelter in place, extended power outage);
- CrimeWatch training;
- And most of all – just being good neighbors.
- This is a great time to have a warm inside neighborhood meeting to review and update your local plans:
- February/March: Preparation for wildfire season, awareness, program/event planning.
- This is a good time for checking that your Go Back and plans for evacuation if there is a fire are updates.
- Its also a great winter time of the year for an outside block party to welcome the sun back.
- March: Earthquake and general home emergency kit preparation and update.
- April/May: Firewise Awareness.
- Fuel load treatment projects, existing fire break, critical access/egress route maintenance, new fire break construction.
- Spring Bear & Moose Aware Safety.
- June/July/August: Summer Fun and outdoor recreation safety.
- Good time for a neighborhood outdoor picnic.
- Check on whether recreational outdoor fires are allowed in the MOA.
Power Outage and Wind Storm Preparation
Firewise Awareness Training
2021 eWatch & Firewise Wildfire Awareness Program – Flyer
April 20, 2021
7 PM
You can also watch the full April 20th recording on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RabbitCreekCC and scroll down the posts to April 20th.
C.O.P.E. Program Introduction
Our Community Outreach Prevention Effort program is offered to assist local neighbors organize themselves to be better prepared to help each other and coordinate their efforts with local agencies. We also intended that this organizing effort would simply strengthen the fabric of our communities and increase the connections and opportunities to help each other, whether to borrow a tool, assist during a period of confinement, check in when there is unexpected activity at a home, or assist following wind storm, earthquake, or pandemic. A couple more potluck meals in the neighborhood is our goal, but we hope you are ready, just in case.
Primary Resources to Help You
1. Know where to get information (Muni of Anchorage)
- MOA COVID19 Information
(Full link: http://www.muni.org/covid-19/Pages/default.aspx) - MOA General Disaster Communications
(Full link: https://www.muni.org/departments/oem/prepared/pages/disaster-communications.aspx)
2. Organize your neighbors
- Sample Organizing Meeting Agenda (Phone or Zoom)
- Example eWatch Program – WA Map Your Neighorhood
(Full link: https://mil.wa.gov/map-your-neighborhood) - Coming soon – a sample community drill meeting agenda and sample drill
3. Be ready to “Go”
- Your “Go” Bag – the essentials you should have ready anytime
(Full link: https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/get-set/emergency-supply-kit/) - Ready Set Go Introduction and Video
(Full link: https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/ready-set-go-campaign/) - Ready Set Go Planning Guide (link not working but here are some RSG program videos to share).
(Full link to videos: https://vimeo.com/user31924020) - Shelter in Place or Evaculate – Try the quiz in this document
4. Prepare your home to reduce wildfire risks
- Home Assessment – Also on the MOA Page below
- Self Assessment – Also on the MOA Page below
(Full link: https://www.muni.org/departments/fire/wildfire/documents/firewiseselfassessment.pdf) - MOA Home Preparation Guides – Firewise Manual and information on pruning trees, remove combustibles near the house.
(Full link: http://www.muni.org/Departments/Fire/Wildfire/Pages/MyFirewiseHome.aspx) - Firewise Neighborhoods “Team Up” Video
(Full link: https://anchoragefire.viebit.com/player.php?hash=mGxsqQn45oIi) - Alaska Wildfire Information
(Full link: https://akfireinfo.com/) - Spruce Bark Bettle Information
(Full link: https://www.uidaho.edu/-/media/UIdaho-Responsive/Files/Extension/topic/forestry/ID26-Everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-bark-beetles.pdf)
Additional Resources
- Wildlife in Anchorage – Bear Aware, and Moose in Anchorage
- Home Emergency Kit and Preparation
- Resilient Anchorage Roadmap
- MOA Emergency Preparation
- MOA Wildfire and Firewise links
- National Ready Set Go Training
- Ready Set Go Lines Explained
- Team Rubicon – Veterans Service Organization
- Spruce Beetle Guide
- NFPA Wildfire Awareness Resources
- Monitoring System – Fire Detection Camera Test
- Forestry Stewardship Program – FSP Fact Sheet – Call for property inspection and access to funding
- UA Fire and Climate Research Project
RCCC Resilience Committee Background and History
This work comes from a Rabbit Creek Community Council committee formed in 2019 to create a local Firewise Community Site program that also integrates other year round efforts that enhance the quality of the RCCC area by strengthening the fabric our community connections and its ability to be safe, prepared, responsive and resilient to future events that affect our community (earthquakes, Fire, Wind, Power, Flood?, Medical, Child Safety Alerts, criminal activity… are we ready to respond?). The group has expanded to now include participation from HALO and other hillside community councils.
Meetings are being held monthly, 4th Monday of the month via Zoom, at 7:00 pm. Contact Chair Troy Weiss at for more information. See the main RCCC page for upcoming events.
Links:
Events:
- April – Community Awareness Events
- May – Firewise Clean up and Wildfire Awareness Day. Download this brochure.
Old News:
- April 11, 2019 Event Flyer and pictures. Thank you to the Anchorage Fire Department, Gage Tree Service, Alaska Industrial Hardware, John See (Firewise), Team Rubicon, Anchorage Police Department – Neighborhood Watch, and the MOA Emergency Services for attending and sharing program information with RCCC residents.
Prior Crime Prevention and Safety Committee Information
Crime prevention has been included in this committee focus.
