Chelan County poised to adopt new Community Wildfire Protection Plan

Chelan County, its cities and fire districts, have an updated Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

Patrick Haggerty of the Cascadia Conservation District, co-chair on the committee that came up with the latest fire mitigation plan, told the Chelan County Commissioners on Monday that firefighters, communities and stakeholders participated in drafting the new action plan.

"Leavenworth and the Lake Wenatchee area is of the highest risks, the highest risk in the Pacific Northwest. There's a lot of area around there that hasn't burned in the last 30, 40 years. It's this weird donut hole when you look at the fire history map, so that's an area really being focused on," said Haggerty. Places like Stehekin where there's a long history of fire up lake, and we still keep having fires up there. Part of it is just we're set-up for fire in this landscape and we have to expect it."

"An example of a fire adapted community's action item would be like the Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center up in Entiat, partnering with the local school district, forest service, Cascadia and fire district, to do annual field trips for students to go out and learn about wildfire ecology, preparedness, evacuation, educating the population about the place we live and fire risk," Haggerty explained.

Included in the new plan is a map, "Intended for planning fuels reduction and wildfire mitigation activities," Haggerty added. "Reducing hazardous fuels around critical evacuation routes near county roads. Increase local contractor capacity for fuels reduction and prescribed fire. Implement contiguous fuel breaks across ownerships, where we have private and federal land next to each other."

"The fire chief's around the table said this is one of the biggest issues for their communities; developing policies and programs to help folks keep insurance," Haggerty said. "Smoke preparedness and awareness for folks who work outside, and then improving evacuation preparedness, routes and education around them."

Read the Chelan County, Cascadia Conservation District Community Wildfire Protection Plan here.

The five year plan update will be officially considered and adopted at the commissioners’ legislative meeting next Monday.