First Fire

[Reapward]

Blackpine Fire
200 Block of Poorman Creek Rd, Twisp, WA
5 acres
Unattended campfire out of containment

This is from Facebook fire information. They are sending a chopper and resources pronto. There is a photo that shows it. Oh so green, but oh so dry, folks.

[Solstice]

This fire seems to have been contained but thanks for the heads up, Pearl. You're absolutely right about the dry conditions right now and the last thing we need is a small fire getting out of control. We've been over and back on North Cascade Pass over the last several days and the reminders of all the fires of the last few years is sobering.

There's an in-depth report appearing in the Wenatchee World out just today with 12 separate articles focusing on preparing for wildfire season. One of the articles is entitled "Natural or man-made: Large wildfire causes split down the middle".

It turns out wildfire data collected by the U.S. Forest Service—spanning nearly 30 years and detailing the causes and corresponding sizes of wildfires in Chelan and Douglas counties—shows that half of all fire starts are human caused.

Proper forest management may or may not be able to control specific fires caused by lightning or other natural causes but what about the other half? If humans could do their part in being firewise in their behavior and preparation, could we actually see a decrease in the number of wildland fires by 50 percent? We need to try! Let's all be careful out there...

[jimbo]

If the Chelan/Douglas has a 50/50% rate of natural and human caused fires then it is a real outlier!

Nationally, the incidence is closer to 15/85%. And compared to 50 years ago….those numbers have just about flipped. Yes, sadly, the incidence of human caused fires has increased that much. Much of that is due to something like 25 or 30 million new homes having been built in the wildland/urban interface during that period….just like here in the Methow.

Jim

[cedarsnag]

Stop selling campfire wood bundles roadside, people. Wake up! If campers come w/o their own wood they aren't prepared and don't need to have a campfire.

Don't be responsible for a large fire because you had to make a buck on a bundle.

[wildramble]

Thank you Solstice for mentioning the Wenatchee World cache of articles.
That is regional journalism defined (despite the ample clickbait).

Can anyone offer up a how-to for using the Everbridge app for signing on for Okanogan county? The Okanogan County Alerts page mentions only receiving alerts but nothing about using the app. Or is that one and the same (the county alerts come through the app interface?)
Thank you
*just inquiring about the Everbridge app - no interest in social media apps offering updates

[Reapward]

Fire popped up again today. I think I may have heard a chopper. What's it gonna take? No campfires, right now?

[karlukkid]

Each year I wonder why they wait so long to call the burn ban. I have been preparing my property to reduce fire damage for six weeks. I have limbed all trees and taken multiple loads of pine duff to the dump. Last year I recorded 96 inches of snowfall at my home, this year 71 inches, 40 of which came in three days in January. We could have a bad year from a fire perspective. Bruce Herron Wolf Creek