Eastside Neighbors Band Together To Prepare For Wildfires
They had a serious scare a couple years ago, and ever since, they've been getting themselves fire ready.
It was August 2003 and a wildfire was burning towards Carnation. It destroyed a horse barn and threatened homes.
One shift in the wind, and it would have twisted towards Jeff Madden's house.
"There's kind of a feeling of helplessness. There's not a lot you can do during the fire," Madden remembers.
But after the fire, there was time to do something. Madden and his neighbors are thinning the forest around them.
Most plots will go from 400 trees per acre to a much healthier 150 trees per acre.
"If you have a healthy forest, you're going to have a safer forest. You're going to have less trees, less fuel," Madden says. "The trees that are going to be healthier won't have the moss and mold buildup, and it's overall better and safer for the entire area."
The thinning requires some expensive heavy equipment. But by going in as a group, the neighbors won't pay a thing. Instead, they'll make money selling the lumber.
The thinning is part of their Wildfire Protection Plan - a strategy to prevent fires and help each other if one starts.
The plan: "identifies roads, how signing should occur, how much should be thinned and trees back so emergency vehicles can get in," explains King County Forester Kristi McClelland. "They've identified where livestock is and how to evacuate the livestock should a fire be approaching."
Their plan is the first in Western Washington to win state approval, making them eligible for federal grants to pay for more fire safety improvements.
But for the neighbors, it's not about money.
"I'm more interested in the forest health," says Madden. He wants to make his vast backyard safer.
The neighbors' plan is called the Tolt Triangle Community Fire Protection Plan. They admit it wasn't easy to create. But in hopes of helping others, they're willing to share their plan as a blueprint.
For more information on creating a plan, contact Kristi McClelland at kristi.mcclelland@metrokc.gov.
And to sign up for a forest stewardship class, visit the King County Forestry Web page at dnr.metrokc.gov.