Taking Action Before a High-Risk Wildfire Season
By: Sarah Allaben, Grants & Communications Coordinator
With a mild, dry winter behind us and warmer-than-usual temperatures forecasted, many local residents are wary of an upcoming wildfire season that threatens to be longer and more severe than typical. Meanwhile, MARS staff have entered perhaps the busiest time of the year, working hard to prepare our communities and landscapes for wildfire. Below, we provide a sampling of the efforts underway across our Fire & Fuels Program—including landowner services that may be available to you.
Community wildfire mitigation programs in Trout Lake & Glenwood
Volunteer helps remove hazardous fuels at the county park in Trout Lake during an event hosted by Fire Adapted Community Trout Lake. Image: Sarah Allaben
If you live in the Trout Lake or Glenwood valleys, MARS is spearheading multiple programs to help you reduce fire risk on and around your home:
Free debris chipping services
Home risk assessments to provide individualized advice about reducing risk on your property
Free home hardening materials including gutter guards and ember-resistant screening
Cost-share program for hardscaping materials (river rock, gravel) to install in the 5 feet around structures
Assistance from the Stewardship Crew in removing trees and branches in the 100 feet around your home
For a full suite of services and sign-up links, visit the Fire Adapted Community Trout Lake or Glenwood Fire Adapted Community webpages, or reach out to fireadapted@mtadamsstewards.org.
Shaded fuel break in progress in Trout Lake. Image: Dalton Hedin
Fuel breaks
MARS’s team, with the help of multiple local contractors, is making great progress establishing a network of “shaded fuel breaks” in western Klickitat County. These areas of reduced vegetation, usually along roads, provide safer areas for firefighters to suppress an oncoming wildfire before it reaches communities or other valued infrastructure. You can learn more about our fuel break efforts here, or contact dalton@mtadamsstewards.org.
Prescribed fire
MARS has had an incredibly successful prescribed fire season so far—and it’s not over yet. The Stewardship Crew and Mt. Adams Prescribed Burn Association have led or supported 10 burns so far, covering hundreds of acres on lands owned by MARS, Ekone Ranch, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, Columbia Land Trust, and three small private landowners. Next week, the Columbia Gorge Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (“TREX”, coordinated by MARS) begins, bringing over 30 fire professionals to the area to help implement additional burns, weather permitting. Our prescribed fire staff are carefully monitoring the weather and abiding by burn permit requirements to ensure our burns can be safely conducted given drier-than-usual spring conditions.
Mt. Adams PBA volunteer igniting a prescribed burn at a small landowner’s property in Trout Lake on May 2. Image: Emery Cowan
What can YOU do?
So, that’s what MARS has been up to; what can you do to prepare for fire season? We highly encourage checking out the newly-launched Klickitat Wildfire Resource Hub (wildfirereadyklickitat.org) for a suite of resources to help you. The site, produced by MARS and other local partners, serves as a one-stop-shop for Klickitat residents to connect with information regarding home protection, current wildfire information, emergency preparedness, burn bans, evacuation, local contractors, and much more. Thanks for doing your part!
