Students at Paulina K-8 School had to kick off the school year elsewhere after the Crazy Creek Fire erupted north of Paulina in July 2024 and raged throughout the summer. It wasn’t completely extinguished until late September.

While the fire burned, students were taken to Crooked River Elementary in Prineville. The school held a welcome back celebration in Paulina in late September .

If another fire happened in a school’s evacuation zone, Crook County Schools would do the same thing: ensure students have somewhere else to attend class if they neede to leave their current school, said district Communications Director Rich Simons.

Other school districts and after-school programs in Central Oregon have a simliar plan. If wildfires strike the region, organizations hope to ensure students are in a safe place or with their families, officials said. Crook County Schools works with the Crook County Sheriff’s Office regarding evacuation orders.

These questions and more arose in Central Oregon recently in response to the wildfires in Los Angeles that destroyed thousands of homes, several schools, and disrupted communities around the city in what has been called one of the worst natural disasters to ever his a U.S. metro area. Local school districts and youth organizations say they have plans in place should a fire or other emergency threaten their facilities or communities.

What plans do school districts have in place?

Bend-La Pine Schools use standard response protocols for all hazards, including wildfires. If it’s safe, students can be sent home or may shelter in place — or be evacuated to a safe location that is likely another school.

“In the event of a fire that threatens any of our schools or district programs, or in response to a mandatory evacuation notice, Bend-La Pine Schools is prepared to dismiss students early, shelter in place, or coordinate an evacuation to a safe location. Following an evacuation, the district would coordinate student reunification with families,” wrote Scott Maben, communications director for Bend-La Pine Schools, in an email. “We would implement elements of the plan to fit the needs of the specific scenario we face.”

Evacuation would likely involve school buses, Maben noted. Any district site can be named an evacuation location. The district has an agreement with Deschutes County to designate schools as evacuee shelters during major fires, weather events or other disasters.

Bend-La Pine Schools partners with the Deschutes County Emergency Management Department, which handles large-scale fires and evacuations. The school district’s safety department is a member of the county’s Emergency Planning Committee, and the district has its own emergency management operations plan. In the event of a disaster, community members should look for information from Deschutes County Emergency Management, the American Red Cross and Central Oregon Fire Information, an interagency fire group, Maben said.

“For a disaster here that impacts the community outside our school facilities, we would rely on established partnerships with community agencies to support and manage the incident,” Maben wrote.

Redmond School District also maintains an emergency operations plan, as well as training and evacuation protocols in case of fires.

What about after-school and summer youth programs?

The Bend Park & Recreation District runs the after-school program Kids Inc. and summer programming at Bend-La Pine school sites. The park district has protocols for parents to collect their children in the event of a wildfire.

Last summer, when a fire broke out near Lava Ridge Elementary, where the summer camp Operation Recreation was being held, parents were notified and the camp was evacuated within 30 minutes, said Shalee Hanks-Mink, recreation supervisor for the park district.

If parents don’t receive the information or are unable to pick up their child, staff will transport children to another park district facility using district vans, and parents will be informed of the new location.

“Parents will always be notified should their child be moved unexpectedly from one location to another,” Hanks-Mink wrote in an email.

Park district summer camps operating in parks will use the same protocols. The summer camp held at Riley Ranch Nature Preserve has on-site transportation in case of a wildfire, and parents will be notified if kids are moved to another camp location, she said.

“We have discussed collaborating with the school district for use of school busses if needed for summer programs operating at Shevlin Park, should an evacuation be ordered,” Hanks-Mink wrote in an email.

Camp Fire Central Oregon, which runs after-school and summer programs throughout the region, said it was unable to comment.