November 2025 Sunriver Scene - Flipbook - Page 34
ODHS reflects on five years since the 2020 wildfires
Five years after the devastating 2020 Labor Day wildfires,
the Oregon Department of
Human Services (ODHS) is
honoring survivors, remembering those who were lost and
lifting up the communities that
continue to recover.
The wildfires impacted 20
Oregon counties and burned
more than 1 million acres,
destroyed 5,000 structures and
tragically took nine lives.
Not everyone is fully recovered, and ODHS remains
committed to supporting them
as recovery continues.
“The 2020 wildfires made it
clear that we must not only respond to disasters but also build
resilience into everything we
do,” said Liesl Wendt, ODHS
deputy director who helped
create the Office of Resilience
and Emergency Management
(OREM) in the wake of the
fires. “We have seen firsthand
how critical it is to keep people
at the center of emergency
planning.”
The fires destroyed homes,
uprooted families and left lasting scars across the state.
While recovery is still underway for many individuals and
families, ODHS is better prepared today to protect people
and respond to emergencies.
Building resilience after the
fires
The 2020 wildfires revealed
urgent gaps in Oregon’s emergency response and client protection systems. In response,
ODHS launched OREM to
strengthen its ability to serve
Oregonians before, during and
after disasters.
“On my first day as OREM
director, Sept. 8, 2020, Labor
Day fires were sweeping across
the Western Oregon landscape.
Over 500,000 Oregonians were
under a level 1, 2 or 3 evacuation orders. That is nearly one
in eight Oregonians,” said Ed
Flick, director of OREM since
its inception. “That is a lot of
people who needed shelter. And
because of COVID, congregate
shelters such as school gyms
were not an option.”
The OREM team quickly
took action and began building
a shelter and feeding vendor
network in anticipation of the
American Red Cross handing
sheltering over to ODHS.
ODHS is responsible for mass response plan.
Most importantly, OREM
care, which includes food and
began
to build relationships
shelter, in the state emergency
in local communities, putting
into practice the adage that all
disasters are local.
“The state and federal governments are here to help, but
that takes time to mobilize.
Local communities are the first
on scene during emergencies,”
Flick said.
Fast forward to 2025, OREM
has staff located across the state,
including a liaison to Oregon’s
Nine Federally Recognized
Tribes.
These staff know their communities and work every day
to strengthen relationships and
build local capacity.
To improve evacuation planning, OREM has made an
evacuation management system
available statewide. OREM also
has improved ODHS’ ability
to identify and map vulnerable
populations served by ODHS.
When an emergency evacuation is announced, OREM’s
network of safety officers can
identify clients in the evacuation zone and ensure they have
a plan to get to safety. This
system was used as recently as
the Flat Fire.
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Page 34
NOVEMBER 2025 SUNRIVER SCENE
OR CCB #1663
COURTESY OF U.S. FOREST SERVICE
After the 2020 fires, it took
months to start up disaster case
management.
Thanks to the Oregon Legislature, OREM now has a
network of local disaster case
management partners and its
own disaster case managers
who work with communities
and ODHS offices to identify
how people were impacted and
connect people with resources.
Looking ahead to a more
resilient Oregon
ODHS remains committed
to continuous improvement.
For those who are still rebuilding their lives, ODHS will
continue providing assistance
and connecting people with the
resources they need.
OREM will also keep expanding partnerships, strengthening
evacuation and care systems and
investing in community-based
resilience initiatives so that
Oregon is ready to meet the
challenges of the future.
Everyone should sign up for
OR Alert emergency notification for counties they live and
frequent.
Visit ready.gov to learn how
to prepare for emergencies.
