HRCCWPP 2013 Draft1.1
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Table of Contents Introduction ..............................................................................................................7 Vision ..............................................................................................................8 Goals ...............................................................................................................9 Purpose ............................................................................................................9 Who 9 What 10 Where ............................................................................................................10 Why 10 When .............................................................................................................10 How 11 Organization ..................................................................................................11 Funding .........................................................................................................12 Impetus and Planning Steps ...................................................................................14 Policies and Tools .........................................................................................14 Defining the Wildland/Urban Interface ........................................................16 Planning Steps ...............................................................................................17 The 2005 Hood River CWPP Planning Process ...........................................18 Hood River CWPP Update Process ..............................................................18 Local Fire Agency Organization and Participation ......................................19 Collaborative Teams and Technical Work Groups .......................................21 Community Profile and Values ..............................................................................23 Living and Recreation in the WUI ................................................................23 Economy .......................................................................................................24 Social, Cultural, and Environmental Values .................................................26 Protected Values ...........................................................................................27 Fire Suppression in North America: Cause and Consequence ..............................30 Native American Burning .............................................................................31 The Big Blowup of 1910...............................................................................31 Results of suppression policy........................................................................33 The Changing West.......................................................................................33 The Problem of Fire Exclusion .....................................................................34 Historic Wildfires and Forest Conditions ..............................................................38 The Forests of Hood River County ...............................................................38 Dominant Species and Fire Response ...........................................................38 Historic Wildfires in the Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood...................41 Large Fires of the West Cascades and Columbia Gorge ..............................42 Oregon’s Wildland Urban Interface History .................................................45 Recent Wildfires in Hood River County .......................................................45 Forest Conditions ..........................................................................................48 The Mountain Pine Beetle and Fivespined IPS ............................................54 Communities at Risk ..............................................................................................58 Housing Density............................................................................................58 Other Risk Factors ........................................................................................61 Wildfire Risk Assessment ......................................................................................65 Objectives .....................................................................................................65 Wildfire Mitigation Zones and Education ....................................................66 The WUI .......................................................................................................66 Wildfire Response Time and Infrastructure Limitations ..............................69 Wildfire Hazard—Terrain, Fuels, and Weather ............................................70 Historic Fire Density and Fire Vector ...........................................................77 Hazardous Materials and Critical Infrastructure in and near the WUI .........79 The Active Citizen: Home Protection and Defensible Space ................................82 Create defensible space .................................................................................82 Senate Bill 360 ..............................................................................................89 Identification and Prioritization of Fuels Management Areas ...............................92 Wy’East Fire District ....................................................................................96 Parkdale Fire District ..................................................................................102 West Side Fire District ................................................................................107 Hood River Fire District .............................................................................116 City of Cascade Locks ................................................................................119 Emergency Response Operations ........................................................................149 Fire Departments/Districts ..........................................................................149 Automatic and Mutual Aid Agreements .....................................................149 Fire Department Capacity ...........................................................................150 Road Systems ..............................................................................................150 Water Supply ..............................................................................................151 Department Personnel and Routine Training ..............................................152 Residential Fire Protection ..........................................................................153 Community Wildfire Prevention Resources and Outreach ..................................155 Structural Ignitability ...........................................................................................158 Individual Responsibility ............................................................................158 Fire Response ..............................................................................................158 Regulatory Framework ...............................................................................159 Action Items ................................................................................................159 Sustaining Efforts.................................................................................................161 Acronyms .............................................................................................................163 Bibliography ........................................................................................................165 Chapter 1 Introduction Source: Adam LaPierre, Hood River News 2011 7 | Introduction Introduction Nestled between the active volcanoes of the Cascade Range and the Columbia River, Hood River County is at risk to many different natural hazards. The chance of a major flooding event or landslide is high, and could potentially cut the county off form the rest of the state. Severe storms and drought could devastate agricultural production, one of the county’s top economic drivers. Less likely but far more destructive, Hood River is also at risk from volcanic eruptions, much like the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens only 75 miles away. While any of these events could occur, the most likely natural hazard that we face is wildfire (see Table 1). Table 1: Hood River County Natural Hazard Risk Assessment. Source: Hood River County Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan, August, 2012. Hood River is reminded of the threat of wildfire every year. The Dollar Lake Fire burned nearly ten square miles of the Mt. Hood National Forest in 2011. Burning for over a month, it endangered homes, power transmission lines, and the Bull Run Watershed. Similarly, the Gnarl Ridge Fire of 2008 burned five square miles, shut down portions of Oregon Highway 35, threatened a municipal water supply, and came within yards of burning the Historic Cloud Cap Inn. The impact of these two fires on the landscape will not be forgotten soon: burning in the canopy of the forest, they caused a near 100 percent tree mortality, leaving the appearance of matchsticks poking out of bare earth (Figure 1). Striking closer to home for Hood River residents was the Microwave Fire of 2009. Burning parallel to the Columbia River, the Microwave Fire endangered hundreds of homes, Interstate 84 traffic, and stood the realistic chance of running past the community of Mosier and towards The Dalles. Hood River has been fortunate thus far.