On Tuesday, July 9, 2024, our lunch speakers will be Melissa Steele and Heather Miller from Bend Fire and Rescue.
They will be sharing Bend Fire and Rescue’s new “Own Your Zone: First Five Feet” campaign that educates homeowners on how to protect their homes from the number one leading cause of wildfire destruction: Embers! The presenters will speak about wildfire safety preparation and prevention, and the emergency alert system.
Melissa Steele works in the Fire Prevention Division as a Fire Inspector with Bend Fire and Rescue. She is responsible for all commercial business fire inspections in the Southeast District of the city. She also serves as the Wildfire Mitigation Specialist for the department, and conducts all wildfire assessments for city and rural district residents. Before that, she was a Fire Captain with United States Forest Service on the Fremont-Winema National Forest for 5 years. She previously worked for Oregon Department of Forestry as an Inmate Fire Crew Supervisor, and before that she came from Paradise, CA and worked as a firefighter/EMT for CalFire. She has a total of 24 years in the fire service.
Heather Miller works for the Oregon State Fire Marshal as a regional Fire Risk Reduction Specialist for Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson and Wheeler Counties, and is based in the Bend area. She works with communities, structural and wildland fire agencies and local governments to identify and implement wildfire risk reduction and resiliency strategies. She started her fire career as a volunteer firefighter/EMT in the Eugene area in 2001 and was hired as a Fire Prevention Coordinator by that same fire department in 2003. Heather worked her way up to Fire Marshal and moved to the Oregon State Fire Marshal as a Deputy State Fire Marshal in 2011. She took some time off to start a family and volunteered at Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District for 7 years before assuming her current job.
Important location note: We will be meeting at the Convention Center, in the Cascade Room.
Signup for lunch here.
This meeting will both in-person and virtual. We will record the presentation for others who aren’t able to attend at noon.
Join the Zoom Meeting here: RCGB Zoom Link
You can also call in to the meeting at (669) 900-9128 and enter meeting ID: 692 491 9146. If you’re asked, the passcode is 5110.