Notice something new at your neighborhood fire & rescue station? Portland stations have now been outfitted with a-frame signs that inform folks about the services we provide to the community as long as we're not out responding to an emergency call. So come by, get your blood pressure checked, find out about things like smoke and CO alarms, learn about the fire & rescue resources that protect your neighborhood, and more.

Fires and falls of all kinds are among the leading causes of injury and death in young children. National Window Safety Week is observed annually during the first full week of April to help educate people on how they can keep children from falling out of windows. 

Nationwide, approximately 3,300 children fall from windows every year with 70% falling from second or third story windows. In Oregon, about 50 children ages 0-5 fall from windows annually. The majority of those falls happen during warmer months between May and September.

In fact, the young son of one of our very own Portland firefighters fell from his second story window four years ago. Please take time to watch the following video http://www.vancouverside.com/episodes.php?video=Window_Safety_32#form

Children can fall from windows allowed to open more than 4 inches. As parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters, we need to be aware of how to keep our children safe.

With warmer months approaching, I encourage you to safeguard your windows to prevent a child from falling and suffering serious injury or death. Please share this message with friends with children.

ERIN A. JANSSENS, Chief

Portland Fire & Rescue

Program Information:

Since 1989, this nationally recognized program has taught over 17,000 Portland-area owners and managers how to keep illegal activity out of rentals, maintain property in compliance with City maintenance regulations, and partner with City services/programs both to provide habitable housing and protect their residential property investment. The Landlord Training Program is made available by funding received from the Portland Police Bureau and Portland Fire & Rescue.

This program is constantly updated to current laws and issues, and has been adopted by over 550 cities and counties across the nation. The content of the course reflects in-depth research with organizations and individuals in police work, housing maintenance, property management, law, and public housing.

The Workshop focuses on keeping rental properties safe and free of illegal activity by training landlords in effective property management, and techniques for dealing with illegal activities by tenants.

We know it works. Property owners who have enacted these practices improve our community by taking simple steps that help prevent illegal activity, property destruction, and maintenance-related problems. Past trainees describe the class as both helpful for their business and beneficial to the community. It is far less expensive for both the City and property owners to work in partnership to prevent problems before they occur rather than take the more costly path of crisis intervention after problems begin.

Past attendees report benefits from attendance that include:

• A stabilized, more satisfied tenant base with increased demand for rentals.

• Lower maintenance and repair costs.

• Improved property values.

• Improved level of personal safety for both tenants and neighbors.

• Peace of mind from spending less time on crisis control.

Landlords tell us that the course provided them with screening tips they hadn't considered and also helped them deal successfully with tenants involved with destructive and/or in illegal activity. Surveys indicate that over 90% of landlords who attend the training make beneficial changes in the way they manage their property as a result.

If you haven't attended already, we ask you to attend one of this Spring's Landlord Training Program seminars. Please sign up. We wouldn't ask if it weren't so important.