Saving lives and protecting the community — that's the mission of Portland Fire & Rescue. But looking out for a population of 640,000 spread over an area of 160 square miles is a big job. Working from 31 fire and rescue stations, Portland firefighters are on call 27/4 and responded to roughly 92,000 emergency calls last year. A key part of their job is education and prevention. That's where Lieutenant Laurent Picard comes in. As a public education officer, he works with Portland residents on knowing what to do in an emergency and how to prevent fires in the first place.
How long have you been a firefighter? I’ve been with Portland Fire & Rescue since 1996. Coming up on 29 years this September. I’ve worked as a firefighter/paramedic out of several stations in my career. I spent about 15 years at Station 13 in the Lloyd District. I spent two years as emergency management liaison to the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management. Then I decided to join the Fire Marshal’s office and become an inspector. And then three and a half years ago I joined the public education division.
How many 911 calls have you responded to? In my whole career? I’m going to guess about 11,000. I don’t know the exact number. About 25% of our calls are fire-related; the rest are a variety of other call types, such as emergency medical calls, motor vehicle crashes, river incidents, and hazmat.
If you could tell people just one thing about fire, what would it be? Our primary mission is to save lives. And the one thing that people can do to make sure that they don't lose their life in a fire is to have working smoke alarms in every sleeping area or bedroom and also outside of every sleeping area or bedroom on every floor of the house. Including basement and attic. That is the number one thing.
And the number two thing? If there is smoke or fire in your home or business, get outside and stay outside. I've seen several really tragic fires where people went back inside for their pet or to grab a personal belonging. And we find the dead dog and the dead person in the house.
That is a tragedy. Fires today are a lot more dangerous than they used to be in our grandparents’ time, because of the products of combustion. Back in the old days, everything was natural fiber — materials like wool, cotton, and hardwoods. Now everything, for lack of a better term, is made of Ikea-type materials which are all petroleum-based. So fire spread is way more rapid these days. In fact, they did a study where they took what they call a legacy room, which is the old materials, the natural fibers, wood. And they took a what they call modern room, which is all the plastics and petroleum-based furnishings, and they set a fire in a curtain in the corner of the room. Then they measured the time it took to reach flashover.
What is flashover? Flashover is the point at which the temperature gets so hot the entire room ignites at once, sometimes even the smoke in the air. I’ve been in a room that flashed over and even wearing all my gear, the heat dropped me right to the floor. For the legacy room, it was upwards of 40 minutes. For the modern room, it was less than 5 minutes. So you really don't have much time to get out of a modern structure. Plus, visibility can get down to zero within this five-minute timeframe. And to make matters worse, the smoke is toxic, too. The combustion fumes from plastic can make you unconscious with just a few breaths. And the superheated gasses in a structure fire can close off your airway with just one breath. So it's essential to have smoke alarms. When they activate, get outside, and stay outside.
Is my house vulnerable to wildfire? Depends. Do you live in a wildfire hazard area? Go to PortlandMaps.com and look up your address. If you live in a wildfire zone, we'll come out and assess your home and property for free, so you can harden your home against wildfire — and especially against ember storms.
What on earth is an ember storm?! Embers can travel a long way from a fire and still carry plenty of heat to ignite a house. They can land in your gutter. They can land on your roof. They can blow under your deck and ignite any combustibles that are stored underneath. They can be as small as fireflies or as big as pinecones. A lot of homes have quarter-inch screening on their roof vents or foundations vents. That’s great for stopping pests, but embers can still get in there, especially during a period of high winds, and start a fire. That’s why we recommend one-eighth inch screening over all roof and foundation vents.
That’s diabolical. Another hazard is anything combustible that’s within five feet of your structure. We want to see defensible space — no wood chips, no shrubs, no bark dust. Just dirt or gravel. Even a welcome mat can catch an ember and set your door on fire. Furniture cushions, tarps, and plastic are also highly combustible.
I’ve got some shrubs that are brushing up against my house... Then you should definitely trim those back to create that five feet of clear space. Some native plants are fairly fire-resistant. We’ve got a list of them. But we still recommend just dirt or gravel within five feet of your foundation. Make sure your shrubs are trimmed up from the ground and that trees are limbed up 6-10 feet from the ground. Most fires in trees and shrubs begin on the ground, not from the top down. If your shrubs are dry, or dead, or invasive, they can catch fire easily. Bamboo is highly flammable. Arborvitae can go off like a blowtorch. Holly, ivy, blackberry — look out.
Stop! You’re basically listing every plant in my yard. The information can feel overwhelming. Especially if you live in a forested area. Sometimes people say, “There's nothing we can do. If we get a fire, we're done for.” But you know, each small thing you take care of — such as cleaning your roof and gutters before fire season or creating defensible space around your home — makes your house more resilient.
What drew you to this line of work? I’ve always been interested in emergency services; I became an EMT in high school and a paramedic during college. After working on ambulances for several years, I decided to test for the fire department. I liked the idea of teamwork, constantly honing my skills, staying physically fit, and helping people. I really love interacting with the community. I’ve always enjoyed teaching people about fire safety, emergency preparedness, and what to do in an emergency. I also trained Portland’s NET teams, so public education was a natural fit for me. I’m also a member of our peer-support team. We have a whole program to support firefighters who are involved in a traumatic event.
What does a typical day look like? There’s no typical day, but here’s some of what I did last week. I did several wildfire home assessments. I taught CPR and “stop the bleed” training to high school students. I presented to African refugees and immigrants about what to do if they're in a motor vehicle crash. I gave a tour of the Belmont Firehouse Museum to an urban tour group. I taught emergency preparedness to community elders at a local church, and I installed smoke alarms in an elderly person's home. Not a good idea for some folks to be climbing ladders, so we offer free smoke alarm installations for elderly people and also for those who can’t afford them.
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