Western Washington isn’t immune to wildfires
Jul 3, 2013, 9:52 AM | Updated: 11:15 am
It’s been a decade since several hundred homes were threatened by a wildfire west of the Cascades, but just because we don’t get large fires on this side of the mountains doesn’t mean it can’t or won’t happen.
We usually don’t have to worry about leaving our homes on a moment’s notice as helicopters dance just feet above our heads loaded with buckets of water.
Most people believe that’s a scenario for Central and Eastern Washington, not west of the Cascades.
But in 2003, a 30-acre fire erupted in grassland in Carnation and within a few hours, 300 homes were in its path.
“A 30-acre fire between 200 homes to the south, there were 100 homes to the west. You know, 30 acres clear, 30 acres on the Westside – that’s pretty hard to find. You’re going to find homes,” says Eastside Fire and Rescue spokesperson Josie Williams.
She says firefighters caught a break; the winds didn’t whip up and they were able to put the fire down.
“We were fortunate we didn’t lose any homes at that time,” says Williams. “So we do have a real potential here. We don’t have it happen as often, thank goodness for that one, but we want people to know that we can have this event happen.”
Williams says think of the medians or shoulders on I-5 or I-90. A fire would threaten homes in a matter of minutes.
“We have a lot of rain, but when we don’t have that rain during the summer months, it means that even though it looks great and it looks like it’s OK – it really isn’t,” says Williams.
Whether your home survives that fast-moving and unexpected fire depends on what you do today.
Don’t give a fire anything to burn between your neighbor’s property and your home, says Williams.
“We ask that you think about what to do. (Create a) 30 foot perimeter around your home, think about cleaning the roofs, the pine needles, cleaning the grass in your area, keeping the wood piles away from the home – things like that.”
Also, keep the recycling and garbage protected and away from the side of home until pick-up day.
The fire forecast for the entire state, not just Central and Eastern Washington, is for hotter and drier than average conditions.
