As Wildfire Awareness Month wraps up at the end of May, local agencies are encouraging residents to be prepared this fire season as an El Niño summer could lead to dry conditions despite high precipitation totals over the last few months.
Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue stated Clark County has a fairly low risk of large wildfires, but smaller spot and brush fires are common over the summer months.
“We would really love to communicate with folks that we want to see them preparing for wildfire season early. (It) may not be at the top of all of our minds while all our vegetation is still nice and lush coming off the winter spring season,” Maddie Pearl, who is part of the community risk reduction division of Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue said, later adding, “But this 90-degree weekend is a good reminder early in the season that we may be looking at some pretty high fire risk later in the year.”
Pearl strongly encourages people to create action plans for house fires and wildfires. Topics to discuss could include mapping out limitations like mobility and ensuring there is a route to exit the home quickly and safely. She also said people should create an emergency go-bag of food, supplies and medications that can last up to three days.
“We also encourage people to check in with their neighbors and make sure that they’re aware of what their neighbors would need if there was an emergency, so we can all pitch in to help each other,” Pearl said.
If a person’s property backs up to a green space or a park, fire risk can increase for that property owner, Pearl said.
Many properties in rural North Clark County are known as Wildland Urban Interface, which includes a zone of transition between unoccupied land and human development. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, the line, area or zone is where structures and other human development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels.
“We would love to see people basically thinking about how they can reduce the amount of fire fuel on their property,” Pearl said.
Fire fuel includes vegetation, debris on roofs, in vents, window seals and decks, and low limbs on trees.
In 2022, CCFR responded to 74 fires outside of homes, which included vegetation fires.
That same year, fire personnel responded to 6,536 natural vegetation fires which resulted in $3.2 million in property damage in Washington state, according to a news release from the Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office.
More than 1,500 wildfires were reported in Washington state, which burned over 173,000 acres, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center.
Clark Public Utilities (CPU) also does its part to prioritize safety when it comes to fire season.
“We take a very proactive approach to fire safety that begins well before fire prevention,” Clark Public Utilities public information officer Dameon Pesanti said. “It’s a mix of … embracing technology and also putting in a lot of physical labor.”
Pesanti said CPU begins its efforts with the design and maintenance of the local utilities grid. In heavily vegetated areas, CPU uses tree wire, which is wrapped in a nonconductive coating that helps prevent outages by limbs and branches on lines, which can cause fires.
CPU also trims vegetation along its entire grid system on a three-year cycle through its vegetation management program.
“We trim the trees 10 feet out from the power lines and then we also mow the brush underneath them and we do some spraying to keep the brush down,” Pesanti said. “We’ve even started bringing in wood chips to lay down on the ground below the lines, because those wood chips help hold moisture in the ground longer and helps the plants in that area still stay hydrated and stay green, which you know, helps cut back on the risk of drying out and becoming a fire hazard.”
Pesanti added CPU uses smart fuses and protection schemes to isolate sections of powerlines to stop any sparks.
“It’ll section off a piece of line to cut the power in that given area to isolate it and again, reduce the risk of any hazards,” Pesanti said.
Clark Public Utilities steps up its patrols to monitor higher risk areas during high wind events or other weather conditions that increase fire risk. Pesanti said crews are equipped with firefighting equipment on their utility trucks and CPU also has its own water tanker truck, which can be used when needed.
Pesanti stressed the importance of making sure any extension cords people use are capable of handling the electricity of the item they plug into it. Cord connections and power strips can melt, spark or create a fire if whatever is plugged into them is too much power for the rating of the cord or power strip.
