Last summer’s Gray and Oregon Road fires in Spokane County reaffirmed the reality that wildfires can cause massive damage even in urban areas.
The Spokane city fire and parks departments identified four areas they consider wildfire zones and crews are now treating those areas, cutting trees and removing slash.
“There’s one starting on the bluff of the South Hill," said Nick Jeffries, the fire department's wildland resource planner. "We currently have one on Palisades Park. We have one in Wyakin Park, which is up by Francis and Assembly. And then we have a big unit on Esmeralda, just above Esmeralda on Beacon Hill.”
Inmate crews and Washington Department of Natural Resources teams that fight wildfires during the summer and fall are doing the work.
“We’re thinning trees, 15-to-20 feet apart. We’re pruning trees up 10 feet and we’re disposing of any slash by chipping or masticating. The city of Spokane is not currently doing any burning or prescribed fire, just based on its relationship with the citizens, its distance from smoke sensitive zones," Jeffries said.
He says forested parcels close to neighborhoods can be dangerous, especially in dry, windy conditions.
“The ember showers are what put everybody at risk here," he said.
Multiple agencies, including DNR and the Forest Service, are paying for the projects as part of a multi-year strategy of reducing the danger in what is known as Spokane’s wildland-urban interface. He says other agencies participating the state parks department, Avista and Burlington Northern Railroad..
Jeffries says the city has treated about 250 acres within the city limits during the last year, with plans to thin 300 to 500 acres annually for the next several years.
