By Dena Martin
the Times
Waitburg hosts Firewise presentation
Fire prevention personnel provide updates and resources
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July 4, 2019
WAITSBURG-Emergency response and firefighting personnel from multiple area agencies were on hand to present information and answer questions at a Firewise meeting held at the Lions Club Building at the Waitsburg Fairgrounds on Tues., June 25. The workshop was sponsored jointly by Blue Mountain Resource Conservation & Development (BMRC&D)and the Waitsburg Emergency Preparedness Committee. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Firewise USA Program teaches residents how to adapt to living with wildfire and encourages neighbors to work together to present losses.
BMRC&D Executive Director Lisa Naylor introduced the program and strongly encouraged landowners to take advantage of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) cost-share program for preventative landscaping.
Walla Walla County Emergency Management
Walla Walla County Emergency Management Director Liz Jesse explained that the County EMS department supports services to incorporated areas within the county through an interlocal agreement. A fee is assessed, based on population, for services which include keeping required plans updated for FEMA reimbursements and landscaping grant applications.
Emergency Management Coordinator Patrick Purcell presented a PowerPoint presentation on how property owners can mitigate fire threat to homes and property. Purcell reviewed the 2006 Columbia Complex Fire, the 2015 Blue Creek Fire and the devastating 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, Calif., with conditions that mimic those experienced locally.
Purcell gave landscaping tips to mitigate fire damage.
"The goal is not to eliminate fire, but to interrupt the fire's path, keep it smaller and keep it on the ground," Purcell said.
He stressed the importance of emergency responder access.
"If they can't maneuver around the house to fight the fire, they'll spend time working around the houses that they can. At the end of the day, firefighter safety is paramount," Purcell said.
Purcell also discussed developing an evacuation plan, preparing a Go-bag, and having a plan for pets.
Department of Natural Resources
DNR Fire Unit Manager Tom Schoenfelder provided information on the DNR 50% cost-share program aimed at improving forest health and reducing fire danger on private property. The program will help with costs associated with pruning, thinning, and removing brush and ground fuels.
"It's a great deal for landowners and homeowners. It's essentially free money for doing something you should already do anyway," Schoenfelder said. More information and applications are available online at the DNR website.
Schoenfelder explained that DNR staff protects timbered non-federal ground. In the northern Blue Mountains of Washington, the DNR protects from the Oregon state line in Walla Walla County to the Oregon state line in Asotin County, covering approximately 270,000 acres, a large number of which are in Columbia and Walla Walla counties, he said. The DNR has two engines, with two stationed in Dayton and two in Clarkston.
Schoenfelder said the DNR will be starting a project thinning, pruning and removing ground fuels on 40 acres in the upper Biscuit Ridge area in the near future. The project, which is all on private property, is aimed at keeping fire from coming in or out of the watershed, he said.
Umatilla National Forest Service
Pomeroy Ranger District Fire Manager Tyson Albrecht, Assistant Fire Management Officer James Purswell and Engine Captain Shane Sievers provided an update on the District. Albrecht said the Pomeroy District encompasses approximately 350,000 acres and the Walla Walla District covers roughly 400,000 acres in the northern end of the Blue Mountains, much of which is the Tucannon-Wenaha wilderness.
Purswell said that the 2005 School Fire (52,000 acres), the 2006 Columbia Complex Fire (109,000 acres), and the 2015 Grizzly Bear Complex Fire (59,150 acres) have removed much of the heavy downed fuels which he said are typically the biggest challenge in fire suppression. He said the 2015 Table Rock Fire also removed heavier, higher elevation fuels and added a fuel break into the upper head of the Mill Creek Watershed.
"Those landscapes are less problematic now. They're not going to sustain a fast-moving ground fire. We're in relatively good shape. The challenge now is how to maintain that in the next 20, 30, 40 years as everything grows back," Albrecht said.
Albrecht said the Upper Touchet Project is being planned to address the unimpacted area with commercial thinning, noncommercial thinning and prescribed burns. He described several other projects that have been or will strategically thinned and/or burned to create a more Firewise defendable landscape.
Sievers said the two Districts have four engines, three hand crews of about ten persons each, a prevention technician and multiple support staff, all dispatched out of LaGrande, Ore. The Districts have access to two type2 rappel helicopters and a type 1 helitanker and fixed-wing plane to aid with suppression and logistics. He said lookout is already or will soon be staffed at Table Rock and Oregon Butte, and Lookout Mountain.
Other
Representatives from Columbia-Walla Walla Fire No. 2, Columbia County Fire No. 3 and Columbia County Emergency Management were also on present to answer questions following the presentation.
2018 Fire Occurrence & Size
For the 2018 fire season (through Nov. 13) approximately 1,340,481 reported acres were affected by wildfire in the northwest:
Oregon: 901,613 acres
Washington: 438,868 acres
A total of 3,686 fires were reported in the Northwest Geographic Area:
Oregon: 1953 fires
Human-caused: 1,276 (65%)
Lightning-caused: 686 (35%)
Washington: 1,732 fires
Human-caused: 1,448 (84%)
Lightning-caused: 284 (16%)
Resources:
Highly recommended: Paul Hessburg's TED talk on why wildfires have gotten worse and what we can do about it https://www.ted.com/speakers/paul_hessburg
NFPA Firewise USA ® Program: Firewise.org
DNR cost share information: https://www.dnr.wa.gov/cost-share
DNR cost share application: https://www.dnr.wa.gov/publications/fp_sflo_fs_ewcostshareapp.pdf
Ready, Set, Go! Campaign: http://www.readyforwildfire.org/Ready-Set-Go-Campaign/
Mill Creek and Walla Walla County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP):
Department of Homeland Security/FEMA Ready Campaign: http://www.Ready.gov
Washington Military Department, Emergency Management Division: https://www.mil.wa.gov/preparedness
Walla Walla Emergency Management: Phone: (509) 524-2900, Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/WallaWallaEM, Website: http://www.wwemd.info
Columbia County WA E-911 and Emergency Management: Phone: (509) 382-2518, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CCPSC911EM/
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