Community Wildfire Protection Plan: Snohomish County Fire District 26 Completed with support from the residents and businesses of Fire District 26, Fire District 26, Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management, United States Forest Service, and Washington State Department of Natural Resources Community Wildfire Protection Plan September 2018 Acknowledgments and Approvals This Community Wildfire Protection Plan represents the efforts and cooperation of a number of organizations and agencies; through the commitment of people working together to improve Fire District 26’s preparedness for wildfire events. Community Member 1 Commissioner Snohomish County Fire District 26 Jason Biermann Eric Andrews Director Fire Chief Snohomish County Department of Snohomish County Fire District 26 Emergency Management Washington State Department of United States Forest Service Natural Resources Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, South Fire Zone To obtain copies of this plan, contact: Scott Coulson Training Division Lieutenant Wildland Firefighting Coordinator [email protected] Snohomish County Fire District #26 42013 SR 2 Gold Bar, WA 98251 Snohomish County Fire District 26 2 Community Wildfire Protection Plan September 2018 Contents Acknowledgments and Approvals ....................................................................................................... 2 Maps, Tables, & Figures ....................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 What This Plan Includes............................................................................................................ 6 1.2 Healthy Forests Restoration Act – Guidance and Requirements ....................................... 6 1.3 Who This Plan Is For ................................................................................................................. 6 1.4 How To Use This Plan ............................................................................................................... 6 1.5 CWPP Planning Process .......................................................................................................... 7 1.5.2 Multi-Jurisdictional Participation ........................................................................................... 7 1.5.3 Public Input .............................................................................................................................. 7 1.5.4 Continued Public Involvement and Updates ...................................................................... 7 Chapter 2: CWPP Area of Interest ...................................................................................................... 9 2.1 CWPP Area of Interest .............................................................................................................. 9 2.1.2 Unincorporated areas of Snohomish County within District 26 ....................................... 9 2.1.3 City of Gold Bar ...................................................................................................................... 9 2.1.4 Town of Index ....................................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Past Wildfires, Evacuations and Impacts ............................................................................. 11 2.3 Community Engagement ......................................................................................................... 12 2.4 Linkages to Other Plans and Polices .................................................................................... 12 Chapter 3: Wildland Fire Behavior Basics .................................................................................. 13 3.1 Understanding the Fire Triangle ............................................................................................ 13 3.2 Zeroing In On Heat ................................................................................................................... 13 3.3 Focusing On Fuel ..................................................................................................................... 14 3.4 Oxygen ....................................................................................................................................... 15 3.5 Weather and Terrain ................................................................................................................ 15 3.6 Getting In the Zone .................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter 4: Wildfire Risk ................................................................................................................... 18 4.1 Identifying the WUI ................................................................................................................... 18 4.2 Values at Risk (VAR) ............................................................................................................... 20 4.2.1 Environmental Values .......................................................................................................... 20 4.2.2 Cultural Values ..................................................................................................................... 22 4.2.3 Resource Values .................................................................................................................. 23 Snohomish County Fire District 26 3 Community Wildfire Protection Plan September 2018 4.2.4 Human Life and Safety ........................................................................................................ 23 4.2.5 Critical Infrastructure ............................................................................................................ 24 4.3 Risk Assessment (RA) ............................................................................................................. 24 4.4 Wildfire Risk Rating .................................................................................................................. 27 Chapter 5: Wildfire Response Resources ................................................................................... 31 5.1 Local Fire District Equipment.................................................................................................. 31 5.2 Water Availability for Wildfire Suppression........................................................................... 32 5.3 Access and Evacuation ........................................................................................................... 32 5.3.1 Evacuation Levels ................................................................................................................ 32 5.4 Training ...................................................................................................................................... 33 5.5 Structure Protection ................................................................................................................. 33 Chapter 6: Risk Management and Mitigation Options ............................................................. 35 6.1 Emergency Communications.................................................................................................. 35 6.2 Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) .............................................................. 35 6.3 Map Your Neighborhood ......................................................................................................... 36 6.4 Fuel Management .................................................................................................................... 36 6.5 Firewise ...................................................................................................................................... 36 Annex 1: Risk Reduction Recommendations .................................................................................. 37 Annex 2: Acronyms .............................................................................................................................. 41 Annex 3: Wildfire Terms ...................................................................................................................... 42 Annex 4: Literature Cited .................................................................................................................... 53 Annex 5: Outreach Materials .............................................................................................................. 54 Snohomish County Fire District 26 4 Community Wildfire Protection Plan September 2018 Maps, Tables, & Figures Figure 3-1: The fire triangle consists of heat, fuel and oxygen. ........................................................ 13 Figure 3-2: Simple steps for turning a house into a Firewise home. ................................................ 17 Figure 4-1: WUI identification and classification process steps as presented in Stewart et al 2007. .......................................................................................................................................................... 18 Map 4-1: Intermix and interface WUI in District 26. ............................................................................ 19 Map 4-2: Detail of intermix and interface WUI in District 26. ............................................................. 20 Map 4-3: 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