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Chapter 4.5 Wildland Fire Hazard

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Chapter 4.5 Wildland Fire Hazard Chapter 4.5 Wildland Fire Hazard Hazard Type WILDLAND FIRE Probability of Occurrence HIGH Vulnerability Chapter 4.5 MODERATE Risk Wildland Fire Hazard Profile MODERATE Introduction extensive forest lands, prairies, and other open spaces throughout the county. Under the Wildland fires can rapidly destroy forests and right conditions, a large wildland fire could other natural resource lands, recreational areas, consume more forest, grasslands, homes, and habitat, neighborhoods, and infrastructure. other public and private owned assets within Wildland fires can injure or kill people, pets, the region. Due to the high probability of livestock, and wildlife. Although lightning occurrence and the number of wildland urban strikes sometimes ignite wildland fires, most interface communities that are moderately are started by negligent human behavior. vulnerable, the region has a moderate risk Eastern Washington regularly experiences rating for wildland fire. massive wildland fires that require thousands of firefighters that may battle the blazes for several The wildland fire hazard is unique from other months. In 2015, a combined 2,013 wildland hazards in Thurston County in that: fires on all state and federal lands burned • It is the most frequently occurring hazard, 1,137,664 acres in Washington State.1 with approximately 63 wildland fires per The Thurston County region experiences an year average of 63 wildland fires a year, but they • It can be prevented; poor human are typically contained by local and state fire judgement and accidental causes start suppression efforts. In the future, the risk for over 99 percent of fires hazardous wildland fires is likely to increase • It is the only natural hazard in this plan due to drought, warmer weather, and longer that can be actively contained in real lasting summers from the effects of climate time. To date, local fire districts and change. Increasing recreational activities the Washington State Department of in open spaces due to population growth Natural Resources (DNR) have effectively will also further exacerbate the risk. Lacey, suppressed wildland fires in Thurston Olympia, and Tumwater have each adopted County before they became a larger ordinances banning the use of fireworks as a problem means of reducing urban wildland fire starts. Areas of human development interface with 4.5-1 Hazards Mitigation Plan March 2017 Chapter 4.5 Wildland Fire Hazard Hazard Identification Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) communities are geographical zones where human A wildland fire hazard is an uncontrolled fire development meets or mixes with grasslands, that spreads through undeveloped, highly shrub lands, woodlands, and forest. People are vegetated areas. These areas may contain attracted to less developed areas and seek to infrastructure such as roads, railroads, build homes in undisturbed natural settings for power lines, and similar facilities, but are the lifestyle and treasures that the country offers. typically characterized with low population These communities and the adjacent wildlands and employment density. Wildfires can start are at risk because a fire may originate in the unnoticed and spread quickly. wildland area and spread to structures and dwellings and vice versa. Ecologists, foresters, and other natural resource land managers view wildland fires as a natural process necessary to sustain the health of forests Source and Factors of and prairie ecosystems. Nevertheless, when a Wildland Fires fire threatens commercial forest lands, precious All fires require fuel, oxygen, and an ignition natural resources, property, cultural assets, or source. In Thurston County, lightning strikes human life, the natural process becomes a only account for one percent (28 total) of all hazard. wildland fire starts. Fires here are predominantly ignited by human activities such as: debris burning (30 percent); miscellaneous activities Photo courtesy of Steve North March 2017 Hazards Mitigation Plan 4.5-2 Chapter 4.5 Wildland Fire Hazard such as fireworks, sparks from engines, and with wind speed reaching 60 miles-per- electric fences (28 percent); children (15 hour; these winds generally reach peak percent); and recreational activities such as velocities during the night and early camping and hunting (11 percent). Other lesser morning hours causes include arson, smoking, and railroad • East of the Cascades, summer drying operations. typically starts in mid-June and runs through early September, with drought The Washington State Hazard Mitigation Plan conditions extending this season. Passage identifies fuel, weather, and terrain as essential of a dry, cold front through this region elements that influence the behavior of a can result in sudden increase in wind wildland fire. 2 Thurston County also possesses speeds and a change in wind direction unique conditions that create favorable affecting fire spread conditions for wildland fires. The following factors contribute to wildland fires in Thurston • Thunderstorm activity, which typically County: begins in June with wet storms, turns dry with little or no precipitation reaching the Fuel ground, as the season progresses into July and August. Thunderstorms with dry • Lighter fuels such as grasses, leaves, and lightning are more prevalent in Eastern needles quickly expel moisture and burn Washington rapidly, while heavier fuels such as tree branches, logs, and trunks take longer to Terrain warm and ignite • Topography of a region or a local area • Snags and hazard trees - those that are influences the amount and moisture of diseased, dying, or dead - are larger west fuel of the Cascades, but more prolific east of the Cascades. In 2012, approximately • Barriers, such as highways and lakes, can 1.2 million acres of the state’s 21 million affect the spread of fire acres of forestland contained trees • Elevation and the slope of landforms – killed or defoliated by forest insects and fire spreads more easily as it moves uphill diseases than downhill Weather Soil Conditions • West of the Cascades, strong, dry, east • Thurston County’s glacial outwash prairie winds in late summer and early fall soils drain quickly produce extreme fire conditions. East wind events can persist up to 48 hours 4.5-3 Hazards Mitigation Plan March 2017 Chapter 4.5 Wildland Fire Hazard • Prairies are typically vegetated with fires in Thurston County, demonstrating it is an grasses and other low growing effective hazard mitigation measure. herbaceous plants and shrubs which quickly dry out during the summer months Although a major wildland fire has not impacted Thurston County in modern times, • Thurston County prairies interface with wildland fires are persistent. They can occur Douglas-fir stands, making these areas during every month of the year, particularly particularly vulnerable to larger wildland during prolonged dry periods due to drought fires or near-drought conditions. Wildfires are most Severity common during the local dry season, mid-May through mid-October, but 75 percent of all The severity of a wildland fire depends upon wildfires occur between July and September the extremity of the factors listed above, the when temperatures are usually at their highest. extent of the fire, the size of the population at risk, the value of structures at risk, and the Map 4.5.1 shows areas in Thurston County ability of firefighters to effectively mobilize and with steep slopes. Steep slopes are located suppress the fire. In general, the cooler, wetter throughout the county, but are more climate of Western Washington is less prone to pronounced in fire districts along the western wildland fires because fuel sources have higher and southern boundary. This map also illustrates moisture content and are less susceptible to the Natural Resource Conservation Service ignition. Furthermore, Thurston County is more (NRCS) designation of Category 1 soil types, populated and developed with a road network which are referred to as excessively-drained, providing greater access to areas at risk for glacial-outwash soils. The map clearly illustrates wildland fire. that almost all fire districts contain some glacial- outwash soils and are therefore rich with tinder Between 1985 and 1990, an average of 149 during the dry season. wildland fires occurred annually, however the county experienced a record 198 fires in 1998. Map 4.5.2 shows the land cover for Thurston On June 23, 1993, Thurston County adopted County. The map identifies areas of forest, a county wide burn permit program for yard dry grasses, soils, and non-forest vegetation waste. The cities already prohibited outdoor with an overlay of the fire districts. Vegetative burning. The county’s program requires a ground cover varies widely in Thurston County. permit for outdoor burning, and references the For example, the forest vegetation type in the use of burn barrels and burning of prohibitive Griffin, McLane, and Black Lake fire districts are materials. A burn ban period is effective each characterized by a large amount of salal and year from July 15 to October 15. This measure Oregon grape, whereas the Tenino Fire District has resulted in significant reductions in wildland is chiefly composed of grasses and Scotch March 2017 Hazards Mitigation Plan 4.5-4 Chapter 4.5 Wildland Fire Hazard Photo courtesy of Robert W. Scott broom. Often the ground cover or understory Impacts layer of vegetation burns, leaving the timber. Wildland fire impacts vary depending on the During extremely dry conditions, fires can size and location of the fire. Most wildland consume a significant portion of the canopy and fires in Thurston County are small (one acre or destroy a forest. Dry grasses are prolific, burn less), with minimal historic economic losses. rapidly once ignited, and can generate flames However, larger fires can be catastrophic as up to 40 feet tall. evidenced by the 2014 Carlton Complex Fire in Road access and mobility for emergency Eastern Washington, the largest in state history. vehicles is mission critical in wildfire suppression This event consumed over 255,164 acres and efforts. Limited access delays response time destroyed over 350 homes. An estimated $35 and hampers mobilization of personnel and million in public infrastructure was lost.
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