Fires Around State

[Fun CH]

Firewising is really urgent right now. There are videos that demonstrate a house with shrubbery right next to it versus a house with none, and of course which house catches fire quicker? Obvious.

here is a most convincing example.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pGJcwaUWNZg

"The dingy house on the left. The dirty and littered house on the right. Or the clean, white house in the middle. It is your choice. The reward may be survival."

[PAL]

You are absolutely right.
It's almost like alot of people don't want to talk about firewising their properties.

[mister_coffee]

"We think it can't happen here"

Tell that to the people in Pateros in 2014, when a good portion of the town burnt during the Carlton Complex fire.

At one of the really useless public meetings after the Carlton Complex fire, I stood up and pointed out that it was only a matter of time before insurance became unaffordable or just not available. Since you can't get a home loan or even a construction loan if you can't get insurance, the significant portion of the economy here that is dependent on buying and selling homes and building new homes would evaporate. Our elected officials had this blank stunned look like this concept never occurred to them.

Ten years on, it still hasn't sunk in.

It can happen here. It will happen here. Again.

[PAL]

8/18 5 PM MODIS
1... NEW FIRE... KOOKIPI CREEK
2... YOLA CREEK... BC
3... MASELPANIK CREEK IN THE CHILLIWACK... BC
4... McDOUGALL AT KELOWNA... BC
5... NEW FIRE... UPPER PARK RILL CREEK N OF OLLALA... BC
6... CRATER CREEK... BC/US
7... SOURDOUGH AT DIABLO
8... BLUE LAKE
9... KINDY CREEK
10... DOME PEAK
11... AIRPLANE LAKE
12... Baseline/DRY falls (Contained)
13... SPRING CNYN ABOVE LAKE ROOSEVELT
14... GRAY FIRE BY MEDICAL LAKE
15... RIDGE IN IDAHO
16... SALMO ON THE BORDER

I thought this was interesting to see the fires in one place. There is a serious fire at Medical Lk. right now. Whole town is being told to evacuate. There has been one confirmed death and many structures destroyed. I-90 was shut down yesterday evening. The reason I am bringing Medical Lk. up is that towns need to work on firewising. Twisp and Winthrop could really use some. Images of Lahaina are fresh in our minds. Winds yesterday kicked up the Medical Lk fire from 500 acres to 3,000 in a matter of hours. We may think it can't happen here. When one structure goes and there are other surrounding structures it's easy for them to all go. Even hardscaped, firewised properties. So if you're hardscaping think of it as doing it for your neighbor as they should likewise think they are doing it for their neighbor.
And it is time consuming to go from site to site Chris. I did get this from Facebook. But I also use Google and plug the names of the fires in and that takes me to a news source. I won't say we are "forced" to use Facebook, as we have choices. There are ways to get around Facebook as I suggest above but it is cumbersome.
In the meantime, I know many people have done a great job of firewising their homes, especially those of us that have experienced fire first hand and close. Again, my go to town Twisp has some problems. When I see a roof with leaves on it and then a big pine tree limb touching those leaves, it gives me pause. Or a yard full of bitterbrush is really nuts. Twisp has not joined the Conservation District, but I believe DNR will come and do an assessement for free.
Firewising is really urgent right now. There are videos that demonstrate a house with shrubbery right next to it versus a house with none, and of course which house catches fire quicker? Obvious.