Tips for covering another brutal wildfire season

Fire season is in full swing, and newsrooms across Oregon are finding themselves needing to make fast decisions about who to call and how to get access.

Oregon Department of Forestry public affairs director Joy Krawczyk and SPJ Oregon volunteer April Ehrlich have curated some tips and reminders for reporters to help cover wildfires safely, accurately and effectively:


Getting accurate information fast

  • Use the public information officers. The people on the scene of the wildfire — and often those back at the office — are fully focused on responding to the emergency, so they may not have the most current fire stats or the ability to step away from dispatching, incident command or other operational activities to talk with you. The public information officers can better help you get that information. 

  • If a local fire service is responding to the fire, please contact that district or department’s PIO.

  • For fires on federal lands, contact the local national forest PIO.

  • For ODF fires anywhere in the state except Jackson and Josephine counties, contact ODF’s fire information duty officer at 503-945-7201 or odf.pio@odf.oregon.gov. For southwestern Oregon, call 541-621-4005 or email Natalie.R.Weber@odf.oregon.gov. 

Reporting from an evacuated area

  • Check with local law enforcement and/or emergency managers before entering. 

  • Consider wearing a hard hat, at a minimum. Between trees and structures, there are a lot of overhead hazards you’ll want to protect yourself from. 

  • Remember that one of the key codes of the SPJ Code of Ethics is to minimize harm when reporting. Some people may have lost everything and don’t yet know the scope of the destruction. Be sensitive when interacting with people in the face of catastrophe. 

Accessing the scene

  • Try to connect with the appropriate public information officer first. They can work with you to help you get the information and visuals you’re looking for. If the operations on the ground allow it, they may be able to arrange for someone to escort you closer to the fire.

  • Under some circumstances, you can access the scene even if a public safety agency escort isn’t available. Oregon’s media access provisions apply specifically to natural disaster scenes on non-federal public lands that are also closed to the public due to the disaster. However, please remember that:

    • Incident commanders have sole discretion to deny access if it could pose a threat to responder safety, effectiveness of operations, and/or the integrity of an investigation.

    • You may be required to provide proof that you’ve completed the annual media access training.

    • You’re required to have personal protective equipment appropriate to the scene you want to access. Lack of PPE may result in denial of access. You can find a list of what's needed here.

    • If an escort is available, public safety agencies are not obligated to allow unescorted access.

    • When on scene — with or without an escort — stay aware of what is going on around you to avoid impeding response, such as parking in a way that limits emergency vehicle movement. 

More information and resources are available on the Oregon Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists wildfire access information page.

If you have problems accessing the training or questions about media access, contact Joy Krawczyk, ODF’s Public Affairs Director, at joy.p.krawczyk@odf.oregon.gov or April Ehrlich with OPB at aehrlich@opb.org.

Thank you for all you do to help us keep Oregonians informed and safe!


SPJ Oregon