SPOKANE, Wash. -- Since the 2014 and 2015 fire seasons in Washington state it has been clear that change is needed in state forests.
In 2014, hundreds of people lost their home and their land. Then in 2015, three firefighters lost their lives. Some of the change is happening because of new leadership at the top of the Department of Natural Resources. Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz has been on the job for just over a year. She knows we can, and should, do much better.
During the Carlton Complex fire in the summer of 2014, there was a collective claim from hundreds of homeowners in Okanogan County that sparked a landslide of criticism about DNR’s handling of the fire. They said DNR firefighters could have stopped it and they sat and watched the fire instead of taking action.
In the immediate aftermath, KREM 2 questioned then DNR Commissioner Peter Goldmark. Over the years, KREM 2 kept asking him questions in an effort to track down what happened and why.
Today, Okanogan County still quietly bears the scars of vicious back-to-back fire seasons and all that past criticism remains just under the surface.
Kim Maltais lives just outside of Twisp and on the day the Carlton Complex raged, he lost his home, his dogs, his timber and almost his life.
“I try not to think about looking over and seeing all those people just sitting there. I try to get that out of my mind. Because when you're fighting for your life, and people are watching it like a movie,” he said.
In many ways, his wounds have never fully healed; they too, sit just under the surface.
“As much as they tried to make us out as liars, they were the liars. We’re telling the truth. This is what happened,” he said.
Maltais said he no longer feels he can rely on the state for help. He believes DNR still is not doing enough to make sure what happened to him does not happen again. KREM 2 took his concerns to the new commissioner and asked her what she thinks of the criticism of her department.
“So, part of my role was to actually go out and listen to the communities, the people who live in the communities hit by fires, everyone from the ranchers to the private homeowners. I also spent a lot of time actually reaching out to the local fire districts. The whole goal of that was to understand what was working in the past, and what is not working. And be able to actually be more responsive to those concerns,” Franz said.
Some people often feel like there is a disconnect of what happens on the east side and the people who are making decisions on the west side. Franz said there is a greater understanding now because of the catastrophic fire seasons.
“I would say Western Washington is definitely getting very aware of what's happening on the eastern side and the condition of the forests. The reality is, this has become every summer for Eastern Washington,” she said.
Franz said they have learned from the mistakes made in the 2014 and 2015 fire seasons.
“I think a big part about the mistakes is making sure we are leveraging our assets early, so they can keep the fire smaller. Because once they're that large, they're too large for us to handle,” she explained.
Much of the area that burned several years ago desperately needed fuel reduction; everything from grazing and logging to prescribed burning. So, when wildfire came, there was nothing left. Right now, DNR manages 2.1 million acres of forestland, much of it dangerously unhealthy. Countless dead and diseased trees, prime for carrying fire right to residents’ doorsteps, just like it did in 2014 and again in 2015.
“First of all, I think listening is the most important thing a leader can do. If we try to go it alone, we will fail. If we work together, we will be far more effective at succeeding, especially with something as daunting as wildfire,” Franz said. “I thoroughly support prescribed burning. We need to get more prescribed burning on the landscape. And that is a big part of our 20-year forest health plan.”
Earlier in 2018, Franz launched the 20-year plan with an aggressive goal of reducing wildfire fuel loads by more than a million acres.
“Our hope is that forest by forest, and acre by acre, neighborhood by neighborhood, we're going to get these forests healthier so we can reduce the catastrophic wildfires that we've seen,” she explained.
It is an effort that is already starting. An Airway Heights prison crew, in partnership with DNR, is thinning acres of land. It was chosen because it butts up to a small road leading to the Riverview Estates housing development near Nine Mile Falls. It is a road that is the only way in or out.
Robert Fimbel is the Natural Resource Project Manager with Washington State Parks. He said the vast majority of Riverside State Park needs some kind of fuel reduction right now and every year the problem only gets worse.
“We try to treat several hundred acres each year. So, we're making progress, but at a very slow rate,” he said. “ I think if I owned a house up here in Riverview Estates, I'd say it was well worth it.”
Fimbel said prescribed burning and thinning became an even bigger priority after the 2014 and 2015 fires.
“We lost over a million acres of our forest and agricultural land. It cost the state over 500 million dollars. That's lost revenue that could have actually gone to fund our schools, and taking care of our communities,” Franz said. “If we can actually be up-front, treating those forests and getting them healthier, then we will actually reduce the costs on the back end, and we will make sure that we're keeping people safe. It was clear by the 2014-2015 fires, we knew it wasn't necessarily going to get better. It wasn't a fluke incident. It was based on the management of our forests.”
It is an effort that cannot be done alone.
“DNR is doing some great work in the county, and we want to leverage that work and make it more effective,” said Dr. Richy Harrod, Division Chief for Spokane County Fire District 9.
The district also just finished an in-depth analysis of the forestland within its boundaries hoping to identify wildfire hot spots before they happen.
“There are a lot of hazardous fuels in North Spokane, and other parts of the county, but in particular up here. So, we have our work cut out for us,” Harrod said. “You can’t treat everywhere, so you need to be strategic.”
The idea, for both District 9 and DNR, is to treat the land closest to homes and roads. It would essentially create forestry barriers.
“If we can improve the forest health, we can limit the damage from those large catastrophic fires,” Harrod said.
District 9 Fire Chief Jack Cates is the one who called on Dr. Harrod for his expertise.
“There are a few spots that we didn't realize they had the potential that they had,” Cates said.
He said 20 to 25 percent of the district is at a moderate to high risk for catastrophic fires.
“Because a lot of people think that hazard mitigation is just cutting down trees. But we really don't need to take the biggest trees at all. What we need to do is work on the undergrowth,” Harrod said.
He remains optimistic that new leadership at DNR will help address some of the issues they have had in the past.
“The DNR has been a good partner to fire districts for a long time. And I think with her leadership, it's even becoming stronger and I'm glad she's putting an emphasis on hazardous fuels reduction,” Harrod said.
Cates said it is no longer enough for agencies to simply worry about their own jurisdictions and the same goes for private landowners.
“We want folks to follow the defensible space guidelines. But we need to change how fire arrives at their property. That’s what this program is about,” he said.
They all agree it is about change for firefighters, state leaders and victims.
“I certainly am a big believer in learning and not repeating past mistakes. DNR wants to be a friend. And my job is to do everything possible to make sure that never happens again here,” Franz said.