Clallam County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Clallam County Community Wildfire Protection Plan December 2009 Developed by Shea McDonald and Dwight Barry, Peninsula College Center of Excellence. Contributions and developmental assistance: Chris DeSisto, Tiffany Nabors, Erin Drake, and Aaron Lambert; Western Washington University-Peninsulas; Bill Sanders and Bryan Suslick, Washington Department of Natural Resources; Al Knobbs, Clallam County Fire District 3; Jon Bugher, Clallam County Fire District 2; Phil Arbeiter, Clallam County Fire District 1; Larry Nickey, Olympic National Park; Clea Rome, USDA-NRCS; and Dean Millett, US Forest Service. GIS analysis by Shea McDonald, Chris DeSisto, and Dwight Barry. Cartography by Shea McDonald. Project funded under Title III of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. 1 Table of Contents I. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 6 Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Policy Context ............................................................................................................................. 7 Healthy Forests Restoration Act ........................................................................................................... 7 National Fire Plan .................................................................................................................................. 8 Federal Emergency Management Agency Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan ............................................ 9 The Community Wildfire Protection Plan Handbook ........................................................................... 9 National Fire Protection Association and the International Code Council ........................................... 9 II. Planning Process ....................................................................................................................... 10 Community Involvement .......................................................................................................... 10 Plan Adoption............................................................................................................................ 10 Planning Area ............................................................................................................................ 10 III. Clallam County Description ...................................................................................................... 11 Location and Background ......................................................................................................... 11 Communities ............................................................................................................................. 12 Demographics ........................................................................................................................... 12 Places of Value .......................................................................................................................... 14 Environment.............................................................................................................................. 15 Weather .............................................................................................................................................. 15 Geology and Soils ................................................................................................................................ 18 Vegetation ........................................................................................................................................... 19 Wildlife ................................................................................................................................................ 21 Land Use .............................................................................................................................................. 21 Transportation .......................................................................................................................... 21 Fire Protection .......................................................................................................................... 22 IV. Wildfire Hazard and Risk Assessment...................................................................................... 23 Fire History ................................................................................................................................ 23 Fire History of the Olympic Peninsula and Clallam County ................................................................ 23 Statewide Trends and Patterns ........................................................................................................... 24 2 Historic Fire Regime .................................................................................................................. 25 Fire Regime Condition Class ...................................................................................................... 27 Wildland-Urban Interface ......................................................................................................... 27 Wildfire Conditions ................................................................................................................... 29 Types of Wildfires ..................................................................................................................... 30 Hazard Assessment ................................................................................................................... 30 Fuels .................................................................................................................................................... 32 Slope .................................................................................................................................................... 33 Aspect.................................................................................................................................................. 34 Fire Response Time Network .............................................................................................................. 35 Viewshed ............................................................................................................................................. 36 Climate ................................................................................................................................................ 37 Combined Climate and Spatial Hazard................................................................................................ 38 Modeling Fire Behavior ............................................................................................................. 39 “Watch-Out” Weather Conditions ...................................................................................................... 39 Areas of Increased Danger to Firefighters .......................................................................................... 39 V. WUI “At-Risk” Communities ..................................................................................................... 41 Determining or Designating a Community as “At-Risk” ........................................................... 41 Criteria for Prioritizing Mitigation Activities ............................................................................. 41 Identification of At-Risk Communities in Clallam County ......................................................... 41 Fire District #1 ..................................................................................................................................... 42 Fire District #2 and Port Angeles Fire Department ............................................................................. 47 Fire District #3 (Including Sequim) ...................................................................................................... 50 Fire District #4 ..................................................................................................................................... 52 Fire District #5 ..................................................................................................................................... 53 Fire District #6 – Quillayute Area ........................................................................................................ 55 Unprotected Areas .............................................................................................................................. 56 Tribal Areas ......................................................................................................................................... 59 VI. Mitigation Strategies ............................................................................................................... 61 Hazardous Fuel Reduction ........................................................................................................ 61 Reduction of Structural Ignitability ........................................................................................... 62 Firewise Construction ............................................................................................................... 62 Firewise Landscaping ................................................................................................................ 63 The Firewise