Lookingglass Rural Fire District

10/14/2026

The national preparedness level dropped to PL1 today at 7:30 a.m. MDT due to these factors:

🔥Geographic areas can accomplish incident management objectives utilizing local resources with little or no national support. There is little risk of drawing down capability in any geographic area to support incident operations.
🔥Conditions are not favorable to support significant wildland fire activity in most geographic areas.
🔥Resource capability is adequate with little or no mobilization of resources occurring through NICC.
🔥Potential for emerging significant wildland fires is expected to remain minimal.

10/13/2026

TRAINING TO BETTER SERVE OUR COMMUNITY

This past weekend, Lookingglass Rural Fire District (LRFD) sent four personnel to Coos Bay to attend a specialized training course focused on operating fire apparatus with limited staffing and maximizing effectiveness while maintaining firefighter safety.

As a volunteer fire district operating out of a non-staffed station, LRFD faces unique challenges when responding to emergencies. Unlike fully staffed departments, our volunteers respond from their homes, workplaces, and other locations throughout the community. This means we must be prepared to operate effectively with fewer personnel, particularly during the critical first minutes of an emergency.

Our goal is simple: Learn to do more with less, without compromising the safety of our firefighters or the community we serve.

Training opportunities like this allow our personnel to develop new skills, improve operational efficiency, and learn techniques that can make a significant difference when staffing and resources are limited.

We recognize that we may not always have the personnel or resources of larger departments, but that does not change our commitment to providing the Lookingglass community with professional, capable, and effective emergency services.

LRFD would like to extend our appreciation to Charleston Fire & Rescue - Oregon and the Jeff Common Foundation for hosting this valuable training opportunity, and to Task Force 1, Inc. for providing the instructors and sharing their knowledge and experience.

Our volunteers continue to dedicate their personal time to improving their skills because they understand the responsibility that comes with serving this community.

We may be a small volunteer fire district, but our commitment to training, firefighter safety, and protecting our community remains strong.

10/12/2026

10/11/2026

National Fire News: October 9, 2026. Firefighters are currently working to contain 8 large fires across the country. There are 3,123 firefighters and support personnel assigned to incidents, including 41 crews, 98 engines, and 30 helicopters. Fires are reported in the Southern California, Great Basin, Northwest, and Southern geographic areas.

Year-to-date, 63,681 fires have burned more than 9 million acres, 134% of the 10-year average number of fires and 145% of the average acres burned for this date.

Hurricane Isaias is approaching the Gulf Coast, bringing the potential for dangerous storm surge, damaging winds and flooding. If you're in the affected area, monitor local alerts, follow evacuation orders and avoid flooded roads. 🚨 https://www.fema.gov/blog/get-ready-hurricane-isaias

Fall is no time to let your guard down on fire safety. If you're heading out to recreate, check local fire restrictions, secure your trailer chains and make sure campfires are completely extinguished before leaving.

🔥More NFN: https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/nfn



📸 Bouquet Fire, California. Photo from InciWeb.

10/08/2026

10/06/2026

Lookingglass Rural Fire District is excited to announce that our new Ready Rack Extractor has officially arrived, been installed, and is ready for use.

Unlike a household washing machine, this extractor is specifically designed to clean firefighter protective gear. Turnout gear can become contaminated with smoke, soot, and other hazardous substances during emergency operations. Proper cleaning helps remove these contaminants while protecting the specialized materials that make up our PPE.

Having an extractor at our station means LRFD can properly clean contaminated turnout gear in-house, helping reduce our volunteers’ continued exposure to fireground contaminants while keeping their protective equipment clean, maintained, and ready for the next call.

This important improvement would not have been possible without the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians and their generous $5,000 donation toward our PPE cleaning project.

LRFD sincerely thanks the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians for investing in the health and safety of our volunteer firefighters.

For a small volunteer fire district, support like this has an impact far beyond the walls of our station. Taking better care of our firefighters and their protective equipment means keeping more volunteers healthy, prepared, and ready to answer when our neighbors call for help.

This is an investment in our volunteers, an investment in our department, and ultimately an investment in the safety and readiness of the Lookingglass community we are proud to serve.