Neighborhood Resilience - C.O.P.E.

 

News 

• The next Resilience Committee meeting will be May 20 at 7PM on Zoom
  • Join RCCC Committee Zoom Meeting
    https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85845694562?pwd=WnFCUjlCZHh6cEc0aG9pNDh3c09MUT09
    Meeting ID: 858 4569 4562
    Passcode: 121907 
• 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 Resouce 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 organiizations 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   https://www.muni.org/departments/fire/wildfire/documents/firewiseselfassessment.pdf 

 

Firewise Community Brochure - https://www.muni.org/departments/fire/wildfire/documents/firewise-web%20part%201.pdf 

Vides to watch before/after the program

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5sVqcSa_9E - Think Like an Ember!

 

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 neighors 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 reponse 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 neighors. 
• 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, critial 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 neigbhorhood outdoor picnic. Check on whether recreational outdoor fires are allowed in the MOA

 

Power Outage and WindStorm Preparation

• Muni of Anchorage Wind Storm Preparation - https://www.muni.org/Departments/OEM/Prepared/Pages/Wind.aspx 
• Chugach Electric Power Outage Information - https://www.chugachelectric.com/outages 
• Power Outages https://www.ready.gov/power-outages  

Firewise Awareness Training

 

2021 eWatch & Firewise Wildfire Awareness Program April 20, 2021 7PM - Flyer

Meeting Recording

Meeting Power Point

Meeting Chat Log

 

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 neigbhors organize themselves to be better prepared to help each other and coordinate their efforts with local agencies.  We also intended that this orgnizing effort would simply strengthen the fabric of our communities and increase the connections and opportunies 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 
  • MOA General Disaster Communications

2. Organize your neighbors 

•  
  • Sample Organizing Meeting Agenda (Phone or Zoom)
  • Example eWatch Program - WA Map Your Neighorhood 
  • 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
  • Ready Set Go Introduction and Video
  • Ready Set Go Planning Guide (link not working but here are some RSG program videos to share. 
  • 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
  • MOA Home Preparation Guides... Firewise Manual and information on pruning trees, remove combustibles near the house.  

• • Firewise Neighborhoods "Team Up" Video - https://anchoragefire.viebit.com/player.php?hash=mGxsqQn45oIi
  • Alaska Wildfire Information - https://akfireinfo.com/ 
  • Spruce Bark Bettle Information

 

Full Links for above info incase you print this and can't get to the above embedded links - they are the same:

1. http://www.muni.org/covid-19/Pages/default.aspx

1. https://www.muni.org/departments/oem/prepared/pages/disaster-communications.aspx

2. https://mil.wa.gov/map-your-neighborhood 

2. http://www.communitycouncils.org/download/17085.pdf 

3. https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/ready-set-go-campaign/ 

3. https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/get-set/emergency-supply-kit/

3. https://www.iafc.org/ - resourc link not working. 

3. https://www.rsf-fire.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/SIP_for_web.pdf 

4.  http://www.muni.org/Departments/Fire/Wildfire/Pages/MyFirewiseHome.aspx

4. 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 https://www.muni.org/Departments/Fire/Wildfire/Pages/FirewiseHomeAssessments.aspx
• 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

 

Stories of other's success:

 

Why some homes survived: Learning from the Fort McMurray wildfire disaster - https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/50166

 

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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. Contact Ky for more information.  See the Calendar of Events on the main RCCC site for upcoming events.

 

2021 Calendar - Our next meeting is 7PM Marchy 15th  on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89426013048?pwd=VVRITjUrYTF6cTV1MlFzcDBkWFVUUT09

 

Current 2020 Goals and Timeline Document

 

NFPA Awareness Information

 

April - Community Awareness Events

 

May - Firewise Clean up and Wildfire Awarness Day.  See last year's event detailsand download this brochure.  

 

Current Committee work plan - a Work in Process.  

 

Old News

 

April 11, 2019 Event Flier and pictures. Thank you to the Anchorage Fire Department, Gage Tree Service, Alaska Industrial Hardware, John See (Firewise), Team Rubicon, Anchorage Police Department - Neiborhood Watch, and the MOA Emergency Services for attending and sharing program information with RCCC residents.  

 

 

 

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Prior Crime Prevention and Safety Committee information.  Crime prevention has been included in this committee focus. 

 

2018 Information

 

2017 Information