FVR Vensel Firewise Group

The Firewise USA  program provides simple, effective steps to help communities reduce the risk of destruction from wildfire. The Furthervalley Road (FVR)-Vensel Firewise Community was created by friends and neighbors in 2024 to help mitigate potential wildfire damage to our property, landscape, and more importantly our personal safety. 

By working together our group identified a 3 year plan to mitigate potentially dangerous areas around our homes and on our properties. The goal, plus the hard work we put into meeting our objectives, is that our chances of surviving an incident greatly improve. We also have a group text to keep each other informed during a fire event.  But more importantly, we support each other by working together to learn and implement best practices to protect our homes, property, safety, and first responders who might one day need to defend this area.    

The yearly requirement to maintain our Firewise good standing is 1 hour of education per year (broadly defined), as well as 1 hour of labor around structures, these are minimums that all of us exceed yearly. 

Contact for questions

Helpful resources before and during a wildfire

Watch Duty App Set notifications to Wasco County during wildfire season to get information during an active fire.  Watch Duty pulls from many sources for timely wildfire alerts. 

Signup for Wasco County Emergency Alerts to be immediately notified in case of wildfire evacuation or other information.

Wasco County Emergency Info Lists many resources in event of fire and the need to evacuate.

Wasco Sherriff Facebook

Moser Fire Facebook 

inciweb wildfire reporting

MidColumbia Fire and Rescue Facebook

FVR Vensel Firewise Goals for 2025

1. Encourage residents to continue maintaining their landscapes and debris cleanup near homes and out to 30 feet.

2. Develop a neighborhood resource list of neighbors willing to help other members of our community.

3. Attend an annual fire training, for example: August presentation by ODF, State Fire Marshal staff, and Mosier Fire District for emergency preparedness education on an annual basis, or other wildfire safety educational events. 

4. Put signage on property to direct fire personnel to additional water sources they could use or how to turn on sprinkler systems that surround a structure. 

5. Expand community to invite more homes.

6. Finish Avenza GPS mapping.

7. Eliminate young/unhealthy conifers within 30’ of structures (still limb to 6ft or 1/3 of tree height, whichever come first).  

8. Trim up roads (FVR) and driveways, leading to structures. 

9. Perform additional fuels work on steep slopes below structures within 100 feet.

Prior and Future Goals here

More information about how to protect your property from wildfire and to learn more about wildfire preparedness can be found at:

firewise.org - loads of information on this site

Oregon State Extension Service Wildfire Information & Training

Fuels Reduction Grants: to learn if your property might qualify for a fuels reduction grant contact 

Emily Huth

District Conservationist

The Dalles Field Office | Deschutes Basin 

p: (541) 298-8559 ext. 111 | c: (541) 707-7058

e: Emily.Huth@usda.gov  

Tip: Please don't use mastication as a fuels reduction technique.  It's actually a fuels reallocation not fuels reduction treatment.

Oregon Living with Fire Central Oregon focus but some good information and links to resources

Mt. Adams Prescribed Burn Association Good information about prescribed fires for private landowners.  So far not a counterpart in Wasco County, but prescribed fires are increasingly recognized as an important tool in reducing severity of subsequent fire behavior.