Own Your Zone

Know Nothing

Learn simple ways to reduce wildfire risk to your home!

Bend Fire & Rescue’s Own Your Zone: First Five Feet is a community wildfire preparedness campaign focused on getting residents to take simple, specific actions to reduce wildfire risk around their homes—especially by creating defensible space within the first five feet. The program provides information on simple steps you can take to protect your homes from wildfire. No matter if you live in the city or in the rural areas of Central Oregon, there are things you can do—even in the first five feet around your house—to make your home safer. It all starts with you. Choosing to Own Your Zone could help save your home, your neighbors’ homes, and maybe even your whole neighborhood.

This presentation:

• Provides clear, actionable steps residents can take
• Focuses on practical tasks that can often be done in a weekend
• Applies to both urban and wildland-urban interface neighborhoods
• Encourages community-wide action, starting with individual properties
• It’s designed to translate wildfire science into easy behavior change

About the Presenter

Melissa Steele is the Deputy Fire Marshal of Wildfire Preparedness for Bend Fire & Rescue, bringing over 25 years of experience in the fire service. She spent 22 years as a firefighter and captain with CAL FIRE, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Oregon Department of Forestry before transitioning to fire prevention in Bend in 2022. In her current role, she leads wildfire risk reduction efforts across Bend and Deschutes Rural Fire Protection District #2, conducting home assessments, advancing defensible space and home-hardening initiatives, and spearheading community education programs such as Own Your Zone: First Five Feet. She also coordinates Volunteers in Prevention outreach and serves as an instructor for the National Fire Academy’s Fire Adapted Communities program.

Originally from Paradise, California, Melissa experienced the devastating 2018 Camp Fire firsthand—an event that continues to drive her passion for wildfire preparedness. Since relocating to Bend in 2019, she has become a leading advocate for community risk reduction, helping establish local wildfire building codes and advancing public safety through education, prevention, and policy development.

Questions? Contact emilyc@deschuteslibrary.org