Chelan Courtney Fire District #10
(Stehekin) News

Greetings from Fire District #10,

A summary of our state of readiness at the start of Wildfire season: WE ARE NOT READY!.

Progress has been made, but there is much to be done.

Chelan County Fire District Commissioners and volunteers were active over the winter and through the spring. Commissioners finalized the Community Wildfire Protection Plan, arranged for professional secretarial assistance, and generally worked to bring this new district into State and Federal compliance. Active Red Carded volunteers dropped from 10 to 5, with one active member missing the refresher due to travel. These volunteers and local resident volunteers put time in on a wide variety of training opportunities, from a Firewise Workshop held in Chelan, to firefighting specific classes held by the Park and the DNR. A Wildland / Urban Interface fire fighting class was particularly valuable for those of us interested in the actions we'll most likely be involved in. Veteran instructors Bobbi Scopi and John Button brought many years of experience and a refreshing common sense approach to dealing with tactical situations. Pumps training with Andris Vezis was also a very good two days of practice arranging pumps and hoses for the most effective structure protection. Loretta duke and Andris Vezis continue to prove how much they care about this community, and we are lucky to have them making their federal careers so much about protecting the Stehekin Valley from Wildfire. An ancillary benefit to these Park/ local training exercises is to see the high caliber individuals who make up the Park's Fire Fighting team. It was reassuring to see the skills, professionalism and common sense exhibited by the majority of the crew, and we are lucky to have them in the valley.

CCFD #10's flagship apparatus is our brush truck. Being our only piece of equipment does not diminish it's splendor. It is a 300 gallon capacity truck, with foam capability, loaded with hose and supplies. A Fire Assistance Grant was used to add two chain saws and a portable Honda pump to it's list of on board equipment.

Stehekin's state of protection is partly a factor of how much fuel reduction has been done on Federal land, but mostly it's an individual property owners responsibility. A fire that is contained or even stopped somewhere up valley could launch an ember that would burn down an unprepared house or cabin. Conversely, a huge wind driven wildfire that sweeps the valley might not burn down a well prepared structure. Your choice, whether to risk an errant ember or to have your house survive the catastrophic fire we will see someday.

Community Fuel Reduction Work parties are your best defense against wildfire. You can do it all yourself; clean up around your house, set up fire sprinklers and ready your pumps...and you'll be an island of rock. Or, you can put in two hours a week helping your neighbors ready their places, and schedule a work party of your own. You are likely to get about 40 hours of volunteer raking, limbing, cutting, hauling and cleaning done in one evening. Or, you can just buy fire insurance, and haggle with the adjuster after your place is gone. The point is: houses do regularly survive wildfires if they are cleaned up, but not unless a bunch of grunt work is done annually.

08' Fuel reduction work parties are every Monday night 6:30 to 8:30. June 9th was the first one. The Barnhart's got significant work done with 42 hours of volunteer labor.
June 16 is at Steve and Helen Bowles cabin up around McGregor meadows
June 23 is at O'Neil's cabin on company Creek.
June 30 is at Wally world on company Creek
July 21 is at Jean Vavrek and Elmo Fury's house on the main road above the bridge.

Three Mondays free in July and all of August is open. Write bobnielsen@hughes.net to get on the schedule.

Thanks, for CCFD #10, Robert Nielsen