Michele Brown-Riding was an amazing person with vision, passion, commitment, and dedication to the City of Jacksonville. Michele passed away on June 22, 2021. She was involved in Jacksonville’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) as Coordinator with responsibility for basic and ongoing training for CERT members, coordinating callouts, tracking volunteer hours, collaborating with other Rogue Valley CERTs and Jackson County Emergency Management, and attending various preparedness and response meetings in the Rogue Valley. Michele also started Jacksonville’s Firewise Program.
Her collaborative approach forged bonds with the wider preparedness community and raised awareness of wildfire dangers and the mitigation measures that can be taken. Michele’s efforts brought thousands of dollars of investment in mitigation through improving defensible space and landscape debris collection. These actions brought neighbors together to work collectively to make their surroundings better, helped increase firefighter safety and allowed for more efficient use of personnel in the event of a wildfire.
Michele also started a Firewise Garden on 5th Street at the edge of Doc Griffin Park. This garden contains plants, trees and ground cover that illustrate the types of plants that are Firewise—that is, plants that are less flammable than others. The Firewise Garden also contains plants that are deer and drought resistant.
On Saturday May 21, 2022, at 10am, Jacksonville CERT members will hold a dedication of the Firewise Garden to Michele Brown-Riding. Jacksonville CERT member Jeff McFarland will give a short talk on the characteristics of Firewise plants. We encourage you to attend to learn about types of plants that are safe to put around your home.