How does the Mohawk Valley stay prepared?

Kevin Woodworth, retired Sheriff's deputy and current president of the Mohawk Valley Fire District, joined Tiffany and Devon to talk about how he helped create a culture of preparedness in the Mohawk Valley and how they keep it going outside of times of disaster.

Kevin also talks about the radio project that ensures the rural residents in the Mohawk Valley can communicate with one another and first responders when other options no longer work.  

Episode resources

• Mohawk Valley Fire District website
• Mohawk Valley Emergency Preparedness Facebook Group

Listen online or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

A transcript is available online. 

**If you would like to have a question answered on the upcoming Q&A episode, please send your question to publicinformation@lanecountyor.gov or call 541-682-4526 to leave a recorded message for us to use on the podcast.**

Listen online or on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Podcasts or Spotify.

You can find more information, including episodes and show notes, at LaneCountyOR.gov/fan. Sign up to receive emergency alerts at LaneAlerts.org.

The views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of Lane County Government.

Transcript

The transcript is AI generated and lightly edited for glaring errors. Please excuse minor errors.

Introduction:

Welcome to When It Hits the Fan, Lane County's favorite podcast for all things emergency preparedness. Whether you're just dipping your toes into the world of emergency preparedness or you've been building bunkers since Y2K, we've got something for you. Hosted by Lane County Emergency Management, this podcast is all about equipping you with the knowledge and resources to be prepared and stay safe, no matter what hits the fan.

Devon

Hi, Tiffany. 

Tiffany

Hey, Devon. How's it going? 

Devon

It's going well. You have been busy over the last couple of months. What's happening over there in Emergency Management?

Tiffany

It is busy. It's a busy job. Well, I just presented this morning to the Board, and it's worth repeating: out with wildfire and in with winter weather. So we're closing down the wildfire season and getting ready to meet the cold weather. We're going to be in a La Nina state this year, which possibly means wetter weather, but not necessarily colder. 

Devon

Well, I think our conversation today is especially timely. We're lucky to have Kevin Woodworth with us, specifically to talk about the work that he and others have done in the Mohawk Valley around community preparedness. 

Tiffany

Thanks so much. Welcome, Kevin. Thank you for being with us today. 

Kevin

Absolutely. It's a pleasure. 

 Tiffany

I'm really excited to hear about the work that you did in Mohawk Valley. Why don't you start by telling us a little bit about what the catalyst was for getting started, and what your role was in the beginning?

Kevin

So for me, I retired from the Sheriff's Office here in Lane County and started in 1985. And through the course of my career at the Sheriff's Office, you know, got exposed to a number of, you know, natural disasters and floods and fires. Setting up command posts for wildfires and, of course, the ‘96 flood. I was a poor day-shift patrol officer working in the Mohawk Valley that day, as a matter of fact.

And, after I retired, I live out in the Mohawk Valley, and, I was, after I retired, was asked if I would be interested in getting on the Fire Board for Mohawk, and I did, and I got elected to the position, and I'm currently the president of the Board for Mohawk. And so, what we've tried to do is, we realize this important topic of emergency preparedness.

We've dealt with snowstorms, floods. You know, we were evacuated during the Holiday Farm Fire. So there's been a number of incidents. This ice storm last year was huge. And so what we decided to do was, we just needed, to get the folks in the Valley better prepared to deal with these types of emergencies. 

Tiffany

That's great.

Devon

I would be curious to know how you first got that community group up and running. The Mohawk Valley has got, you know, quite a range. And so people aren't necessarily cheek to jowl in most areas. And, as you said, people are so busy now. So what did it look like to initially get that group formed and get buy-in from people in your community?

Kevin

I think it was probably after the big snowstorm that we had that really caught people off guard. And so what we did was we created this Facebook page. Because social media is huge these days. And so, we created our Facebook page and then just started sharing information there. And, and the more information we shared, the more people we had come on board.

And so it's like after every major event we have, like after the ice storm, we have 50 new people come onboard onto the Facebook page. And, and so once you get this community group going and there's probably 30 to 40 or 50 - 30 to 40 people that are pretty diehard and planners, you know, it's quick to get that word out.

You know, they talk to their neighbors and their family and their friends. We have people on our Facebook page who have elderly adult family that live out in the valley or have family in general, and they've come onboard to see, you know, to kind of keep tabs on them when things are going down. And then as part of that, we started our general mobile radio plan out there. And so that's really brought a big group together. The whole radio thing where they can get on the radio during an emergency and talk to their neighbors, talk to the fire department is pretty comforting. 

Devon 

One of the things that I first learned about this group is about the radio project. And I was so struck by how unusual it is, at least in our area, to have a community that's planning actively around power outages and loss of other communications tools. We've seen it time and time again, whether it's ice or snow or even heavy smoke from a wildfire. Our phones often are the first thing to become essentially unusable. And so talk to us more about their radio project and why that has been such an important part of this group. 

Kevin 

So what we discovered, was that as soon as we lose power, we lose our internet. So either, you know, the options that we have up there are primarily Spectrum and, and, CenturyLink. So as soon as the power goes out, you know, for the most part, we lose the ability to get on the internet. A lot of people out there, my house, you know, I have to have a network extender for my phone. So as soon as that the internet goes out, I lose my phone altogether.

And, we have a number of elderly people that live out in the Valley, fairly remote locations. And so we created five radio zones. And so they start from the Linn-Lane county line to go all the way down to the McKenzie. So of those five zones, what we did was we, and we're using general mobile radios, we researched it and those seem to be our best resource out there.

We’ve got 2 or 3 radio experts that are working with us. And so, what we did was we took created those five radio zones and, and each radio zone has a frequency that they're assigned, which is one of the standard program general mobile frequencies. And then so we've got five radio zones for each zone.

So in the event something happens, you can go to that zone channel and talk to your neighbors and just check and make sure that they're okay, this kind of thing. And then what we did was we identified two emergency radio channels and so those go directly to the fire department, where we have a base station set up there.

And we don't have any repeaters out there. And so without the repeater, our whole goal was, is to do kind of a human repeater chain. So in sense zone five could talk to for the fire station is in zone three. And then on and on and on. So we could bounce back up and a lot of those zones kind of overlap. So you can talk in zone 4 or 5 if you want.

Hopefully in the event of a big emergency, everybody will have the ability to get on that general mobile radio. And we've got training classes that we do at the fire department. Radio guys come in and talk about antennas and how to run the radios, and it's complicated, for some. But General Mobile's pretty easy to operate, so.

But being able to reach out and talk to your neighbor during the ice storm, I was talking to 4 or 5 of my neighbors on a regular basis, and I think that it just makes feel people feel a little bit better when they know they can see what's going on down the road, or if they can reach a fire station and know that, that people are out there listening if they need help.

Tiffany

That's tremendous peace of mind. And for our listeners, I, I want to confirm and clarify with you that GMRS/FRS is different than ham radio. Little less complicated, some of the same benefits. Yes?

Kevin

Yeah. So the GMRS radio it does require an FCC license, I believe it's $35, and it's good for ten years now, and it's good for the entire family. So anybody in your family can use, they’ll issue a radio identification number. And, and so anybody can use it and, and all the general mobile radios that you buy are already preprogrammed with the channels that have been assigned to general mobile radios. So when you get them, you don't have to program them. You can add additional things in there, like national weather and scan other stuff. But for the most part, they're already programed, so they're easy to operate. The licensing is, I mean, it's not a test. It's more of give us your information. So tell us who you are, give us our $35 and go ahead and talk, talk, talk on it. And we try to, you know, make sure that people understand that even though, it's, you know, a lot of people have access to it, that, you know, it's important that, you know, you keep some decorum and it's not a toy to be played with when there's an emergency going on.

Devon

What is the secret to keeping your community engaged? 

Kevin

Well, you guys both probably know that that's a tough one. And people get really excited when there's an emergency. So if there's a snowstorm or if there's an ice storm or a wildfire, you know, the participation that you get, you know, is huge. But it's like a ripple. So at the top of the ripple, people are very excited, concerned. They want to know everything. But as soon as the weather gets nice and nothing's going on, they forget all about it until the next problem arises. And so I think we've all seen, I don't recall as a kid ever seeing the type of weather events that we've had in recent years. I mean, this ice storm last year was crazy, you know, where the wildfire stuff has taken on a whole new life of its own. And so I think people are getting that, and I think they're being better prepared in a sense, and we just keep whittling away at that. On our Facebook page, we try to put out as much information as we can. I will put out, like major weather events if the National Weather Service comes out with, wind advisory or heavy snow, we'll get that out and that gets a lot of attention.

There's a lot of people that do pay attention to that. I put one out, I think, on this last week when we had this windstorm come in and, and I want to say that it on Facebook reached well over a thousand people. So that's a pretty good number for out there. And so, I think to provide information, you know, make people think about it.

And then we'll put stuff on there, Lane County, they're doing a great job of putting out, a preparedness stuff, you know, how to process water, you know, what do you do if you run out of water? You know, what kind of foods do you store? You know, another big issue for rural people are livestock. What do we do with our livestock?

You know, and so I listened to the podcast last month and we talked about livestock. But, you know, during the wildfire, you know, when they did the evacuation, the Mohawk Valley, my house overlooks Marcola Road. And it was crazy. I mean, no one was moving on Marcola r\Road and everybody had a goat or sheep or cow in the back of their truck trying to get them out of there.

So trying to make people understand that, you know, something's coming around the bend like a big wildfire. Don't wait until level three to make a decision on what you're going to do with your your livestock. So, and people are pretty excited about that. So I think on average, when we have a meeting, you know, we get, you know, 30 to 40 people show up in that, you know, keep things, I think, kind of going.

Tiffany

What kind of meeting format do you have? Do you have different topics every time? What does it look like? 

Kevin 

It depends on what it is. We've been kind of focused on the radio lately because that's the big issue. A lot of the preparedness stuff we can put out on social media, like, you know, how how do you prepare water, you know, how do you know what kind of food?

But right now we've been really focused on the radio part of it, because that's the most complicated part. And that's what people, that seems to be where the interest is at to get a radio and understand how to work it. And so we just had a meeting on that, I think it was last month, and we had our radio people come in, our, in our antenna specialist and, and answer a lot of those radio questions.

And then, of course, we did a debrief on the wildfire season. The Chief provided that. 

Devon

So if you had to sum it up, what are the top three benefits for the Mohawk Valley community in doing this work? 

Kevin

First, I would say that it brings in kind of a sense of community. I think it's one of those things that there's a lot of people that are interested in it, especially rural folks.

I think, you know, you live out there, you're on a well, you know, you cut your own firewood, you know, you have gardens and livestock and stuff. So there's a sense of community there, too. I think, being able to reach out and ask a question, you know, or advice on how to do something is another part of it.

And then, and then I think the third part is, is, is, you know, the the whole goal of this is to have people understand that, you know, in the event of a major disaster, you've got to have a plan for your family. You can't think that government's going to rush out there the day that, you know, big earthquake happens.

You've got to have your own plan. You know, you've got to be prepared. It's amazing how many people don't have firewood stored that live out there. You know, make sure that in the winter months you've got fuel for your generators and, and all that stuff. And, and then what we did was the 1st November we made Saturday kind of generator day.

And so we said, everybody get out. Get your generators out. Start ‘em. Make sure you have fuel and they run. So I think those are the big three things. And we just want people to think about it, and understand that, you know, you got to you got to think about your family first and make sure that you've got some stuff, some resources available to you if something happens.

Devon

I wish we had 100 Kevins that we could send out to communities to lead this kind of work. And you do have a unique perspective in being not only a community member who cares very deeply, but also a first responder, too. So you've really seen it through multiple angles. Since we can't clone you, what advice would you give to someone who's interested in doing something like this in their community?

Kevin

From what I understand, a number of the rural fire departments are looking at this. I know McKenzie is, we have, kind of overlapping response on Camp Creek and McKenzie View. So, you know, we've got we know that both Coburg and McKenzie View or McKenzie fire department are evaluating this as well. And, I mean, it's not rocket science. It's, you know, trying to reach out to the members of your community. There's a ton of information available out there, you know, through FEMA, through the state, through the county. And I think it's just getting people to think about that. And, I, I hate to say this, but sometimes the best time to jump on that is after a major ice storm or a fire. You know why? It's still fresh in people's minds that, you know, I just spent a week without, you know, power at my home, and my kids are bouncing off the wall because they don't have internet or, you know, those, social media outlets and, and, and, and there's just so many things that you can get that will make life at your home much easier.

You know, cell phone chargers, you know, that are battery backed up and, you know, food and water and all those things that can really impact your life, you know, for a week or so when you don't have anything going on there. So, so I, I think that, anybody else, you know, it's just a matter of, and I think the rural fire departments are a great place to start, because in a lot of places, they're really kind of the, you know, government agency in that area, you know, between them and the school district and, you know, that's where people go.

I mean, you know, the Mohawk Rural Valley Fire Department, you know, is, is a big part of that community. And, and I think that it builds really good well between the fire department and the citizens in the Valley as well. 

Devon

I appreciate that point too. I have come to understand a little bit more about the role that those rural fire departments play in communities, and it's very special. And I, I'm glad that especially in the Mohawk Valley, it has sort of helped get this group created and provided that community connection that I think will keep people engaged. 

Tiffany

Thank you so much for being with us today, Kevin. This has been interesting and inspiring. 

Kevin 

Well, thank you for having me. 

Devon

We do still want to hear questions that people have, so that we can answer those as part of a Q&A next month, to wrap up the first season of the show. So there are directions on how to submit those questions in the show notes. And we hope to hear from you if there's something you feel like we didn't cover in enough detail or we, we covered it in too much detail, and now we've confused you, you know, let us know what you are most curious about when it comes to emergency preparedness.

Closing:

When It Hits The Fan is brought to you by Lane County Emergency Management and co-hosted by Lane County Emergency Manager Tiffany Brown and Public Information Officer Devon Ashbridge. Music is by the Love Gems. Many thanks to our listeners and guests. We are so glad you're here to help us create a more prepared community. You can find more information, including episodes and show notes, at LaneCountyOR.gov/fan. 

Sign up to receive emergency alerts at LaneAlerts.org. The views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of Lane County government.