Experts discuss wildfire preparedness during Leavenworth workshop

LEAVENWORTH — The City of Leavenworth hosted a workshop of experts from partnering agencies to discuss wildfire preparedness with residents on April 9. Discussions ranged from fire response and evacuation plans to hazardous fuels reduction and homeowner preparedness.

The workshop brought in partners from Chelan County Fire District #3, Chelan County Emergency Management Service, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS),  Cascadia Conservation District, and Cascadia Prescribed Burn Association (PBA).

According to Assistant Fire Management Officer Matt Kennedy, the Wenatchee River Ranger District is going into the fire season with a standard sized fire response crew, which includes a 20-person initial attack crew, a Type 6 engine, and a Type 3 engine. Each engine has four out of five crew positions filled. 

“So [we] didn't quite get where we wanted to this year, but overall, we’re right about where we are most years, so staffing is pretty normal,” said Kennedy.

The crew is also reinforced by neighboring ranger districts, a HotShot crew, and air support. USFS Representatives also discussed progress on fuel treatment projects near Mission Ridge, Upper Peshastin Creek, Chumstick-Lower Peshastin Creek, and Lake Wenatchee.

Partnering agencies such as Fire District #3, Cascadia Conservation District, and Cascadia PBA shared about the work they’ve done in concert with private property abutting Forest Service land, and ways in which property owners could protect their home and neighborhoods. 

For instance, Cascadia PBA enables landowners to conduct safe and efficient prescribed burns by leveraging a community led network of personnel, tools, training, and resources. Cascadia Conservation District offers a number of programs, including fuels reduction assistance and home hardening incentives.

Additionally, Fire District #3 offers free wood-chipping and home and property assessments, in which it will inspect properties and make Firewise recommendations. It also plans to create defensible space on at least 40 properties each year for the next five years, under the Community Wildfire Defense grant.

“We offer all these programs to help prepare you people for wildfire. We're available every step of the way, from that initial assessment all the way through assisting you and finding the resources that you need,” said Fire District #3 Deputy Chief Mike Smith.

In the event of a wildfire, Emergency Management Specialist Rich Magnussen shared an overview of the county’s Everbridge communications system used to keep residents updated on emergency situations, as well as the different considerations taken to prepare the county for evacuation planning and implementation. 

Last year, the county started using the Everbridge Emergency Alert System to send emergency alerts via text, email or voicemail. While residents are encouraged to sign up to ensure they receive alerts, the system has an ability to contact all devices in an affected geographic area when needed.  However, Magnussen told the audience that a phone’s GPS location services must be turned on in order to be identified in the area.

“I recommend, if it's fire season…Turn that location on, because that's the only way that your phone's going to identify where it's at, if you're in that area that we've identified,” said Magnussen.

Magnussen explained the varying levels of evacuation, starting at level one, which encourages making a plan, identifying emergency contacts, and preparing an emergency supply kit. Level two is “Get Set” to leave, and level three is “Go!”

“Leavenworth is limited for our egress routes and ingress routes…We know that, and so we're going to pull the trigger on evacs a little earlier than we would in, say, downtown Wenatchee,” said Magnussen. 

Magnussen added that the county wouldn’t “abuse” the evacuation levels, only sending out level three alerts when it’s serious, and lifting them as soon as possible. Smith added that the fire district had pre-identified shelter-in-place locations in the event that evacuation wasn’t possible.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media