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Spokane Fire District Announces Plan To Reduce Wildfire Fuel Loads

Spokane County Fire District 9

A Spokane County fire district has announced a multi-year plan to reduce the wildfire threats within its boundaries. The plan has the endorsement of state Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz.

Spokane County Fire District 9 operates nine fire stations in north Spokane County. Many of them are in heavily forested areas.

Chief Jack Cates says some of those areas are at high risk of burning because of the density of the tree stands and the abundance of dry vegetative debris.

Cates says the district’s plan will focus on three areas. There’s an education option for property owners who want to do mitigation projects on their own land. And for those who want work done, but can’t do it themselves, "We’ll have a six-to-10 person fuels module that will go out and do the work for the taxpayer, if they’re unable to do so," he said. "Then the third option is working on the larger parcels, where we’re talking about a large amount of work and we certainly have some of that in Fire 9.”

Cates says the district plans to spend $250,000 next year to reduce the fuels load. It plans to continue that work in the years after that.

Washington Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz praised the district for creating a local wildfire prevention program. She says the fire that burned the town of Malden showed a classic case of the benefits of creating clear space around structures.

“Amongst all that rubble, you saw a house that was completely untouched. It was untouched because they had created that defensible space. They had wet grass, green grass growing. They had trees that were away from the side of the house. They had taken the steps to protect that home," Franz said.

Jack Cates says the district will begin talking around Thanksgiving with landowners interested in participating in the program next year.