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Blogger King |
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July 2008
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The year was 1902, and Southwest Washington burned, big time. Nearly 240,000 acres of Western Washington forest went up in flames, dozens died and many more became homeless. Yes, twice now I've mentioned the "west" word. Wildfires are not just an Eastern Washington problem. Catastrophic wildfires have burned on the "wet side" of the state, and while the biggest, the Yacolt Burn is far from the only major blaze between the Pacific coast and the Cascade crest. I spent part of the day with Public Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland and Mark Kahley, who heads the Department of Natural Resources protection division. These are people who must look ahead to the upcoming fire season. And already, there have been more westside acres burned in this spring teaser season than on the eastside of the state. Could this be an indication what lay ahead, when summer finally arrives? Concerns over a catestrophic westside fire have been growing among wildland fire professionals for over a decade. One only need to look at entire neighborhoods that went up in flames in California, Colorado, New Mexico, and even Spokane since 1990 to see what happens when conditions are ripe for fire to come to town. In 2003, a fireworks generated blaze nearly wiped out part of Carnation in east King County. Local residents, home from work when the fire broke out in the late afternoon, manned their own garden hoses to wet down their roofs, and allow firefighters to attack the blaze. Now, three years later, even more of us live in these semi-rural areas known as the urban-wildland interface. And some of those who've just moved in from other states, have no idea that our gorgeous trees can turn into torches. Some who've lived here for decades don't either. Local, state and federal fire agencies are offering information and even asistance to help people in Western Washington protect their homes from wildfire -- resources Sutherland and Kahley think not enough people on the "wet side" of the state are taking advantage of. We have provided links to some of them right here. At 103 years distant, the Yacolt burn seems like ancient history. Relatively few people lived in Washington state in those days, not the millions who are here now. History has a way of repeating itself. 1 Comments |
I was living in Berkeley, CA during the Oakland Hills fire and watched it burn for four days. I drove through those communities and knew how dense and close together were homes and forests. When conditions were correct, everything burned, destruction was total. Since 1993 I have lived up here again. While visiting friends near North Bend, I saw the same kind of forest/human interaction. I said, "Someday this place is going to burn." A midsummer fire starting in North Bend, with a high east-to-west wind coming over the Pass, could create a fire storm that might stop only when it reached Lake Washington.