Washington state DNR expands program offering wildfire preparedness resources to homeowners
25 October 2022
Published by: https://www.bigcountrynewsconnection.com
USA – YAKIMA – The 2022 fire season may be coming to an end in the near future for Central Washington residents, but state agencies want to emphasize that the steps needed to prepare properties to be resilient against the threat of wildfire can be done any time of year.
Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz gathered with residents, community leaders, and local fire district in at the Pineloch Sun community near Ronald last week to talk about the expansion of a program that offers resources to residents to help protect their properties from the threat of wildfires.
At the meeting, Franz announced the fall expansion of a program called Wildfire Ready Neighbors in Kittitas, Klickitat, and Okanogan counties. According to a press release, the initiative provides homeowners, renters, and private landowners access to expert advice, free resources, and tools to help prepare for wildfire year-round.
“Wildfire Ready Neighbors is part of the comprehensive strategy to better prepare our communities,” Commissioner Franz said in the release. “Everyone can become more wildfire-ready, and this initiative is meant to meet the needs of every resident, whether they are already on the road to preparedness or are just becoming aware of the need to take action.”
Since launching in 2021, the release said Wildfire Ready Neighbors is now active in seven counties: Chelan, Okanogan, Spokane, Yakima, Kittitas, Klickitat, and Stevens. To date, the release said more than 3,800 Washington residents have received a free custom wildfire ready plan and committed to taking more than 19,000 preparedness actions on their homes and properties.
According to the release, the Wildfire Ready Neighbors program builds upon existing efforts to encourage community engagement with renters, homeowners, and small forest landowners.
“Across Washington, Wildfire Ready Neighbors is bringing communities together to take collective action by driving residents in high-risk counties to assess risks and take steps to make their homes and properties more wildfire ready, raising awareness and interest in receiving a free wildfire ready plan and home visit or forest health consultation, and building understanding of local/state resources and contractors available to assist with risk reduction activities,” the release said. “Despite the worsening length and impact of fire seasons, community-based wildfire resilience efforts and increased resources are proving a vital contributor to reduced losses in high-risk areas. This year to date, just over 140,300 acres have burned around Washington state, the fewest number of acres burned in a decade.”
In the release, Franz said 1,872 fires burned 674,249 acres in Washington State last year, the second-most wildfires in a year in the state’s history.
“The time for all of us to take action is now,” Franz said in the release. “As we’ve all witnessed this year, wildfire seasons in Washington are becoming much longer and more severe. So much so that, at the Department of Natural Resources, we no longer refer to it as a (fire) season, but rather a fire year.”
Franz said a combination of DNR equipment, aerial firefighting assets, personnel, partnerships with other agencies, as well as a wet and rainy spring that delayed the start of this year’s fire season contributed to our success.
Homeowners can sign up for Wildfire Ready Neighbors and get a free customized plan at WildfireReady.com. The release said residents can also request a no-cost consultation where a wildfire expert will visit their property and develop a detailed action plan for wildfire preparedness. The plan includes steps they can take immediately and information about local resources and contractors to help get them started.
