Is it getting hot in here or is it just … the earth?
The recent Paradise Fire in Olympic National Park is only the latest reminder that our beloved Olympic Peninsula may be geographically isolated but isn’t immune to the dangers of wildfire.
A colleague recently reminded me of “Bound to Burn,” a piece we ran back in 2008, detailing a study about wildfire danger on the peninsula.
“The combination of unpredictable winds, steep slopes, dry summer weather, buildup of dry vegetation and limited access to roads has much of the Olympic Peninsula primed for a catastrophic wildfire emergency,” I wrote back then.
As experts remind us, wildfires can be an appropriate purging of undergrowth that builds up and should be taken into context when we see large fires like Paradise and others in recent memory. For those interested, check out www.nps.gov/olym/learn/management/fire-history.htm, which includes a detailed history of fires on the peninsula and a link to Humboldt State University student Lakota Burwell’s capstone study, “Environmental Factors Influencing Fire Behavior in the Olympic Mountains.”
All things considered, conditions in 2015 seem worse than they were in 2008. Our lack of snowmelt has biologists, irrigators and any peninsula resident generally interested in water on high alert.
While wildfire danger may be more dependent on precipitation than snowpack levels, as one fire official told me recently, drought conditions are hurting our chances of getting through the summer without serious threat of fire.
Washington officials expect 2015 to be a record year for wildfires, with high temperatures and sparse rainfall throughout the state. “I’m concerned that this is going to be another devastating fire season,” Peter Goldmark, state commissioner of public lands, said recently, making a point to mention the possibility of wildfire issues on the west side of the state along with the 200-plus fires the state is fighting in Eastern Washington.
This is the long version of me getting around to my annual plea for folks to be not only safe with their fireworks but safe with their nook of the planet.
Heed the burn bans in the area to know what and when you can and can’t burn. Heed their advice to maintaining a 30-foot area of what they call “defensible space” around structures on your property like homes, sheds, trailers, etc., to help firefighters and possibly save your stuff (see www.clallam.net/Permits/burningrestrictions.html).
Read “Peninsula sees a rising risk of fires” on page A-3 in today’s Gazette.
Call Fire District 3 at 683-4242 or Clallam County at 417-2380 for clarification, if needed.
Most of all, stay cool.
Michael Dashiell is editor of the Sequim Gazette reach him at editor@sequimgazette.com.
