Many dozens of area residents gathered at the Yelm Community Center to participate in the first-ever Wildfire Ready event presented by the Southeast Thurston Fire Authority (SETFA) on Saturday, April 26.
The event served as a kickoff for Wildfire Ready Neighbors, a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) program that offers homeowners a free survey to determine their unique Wildfire Ready Plan.
Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove began the media portion of the event by wishing Smokey Bear a happy 80th birthday, before recognizing the changes in climate — as well as the growth and development — that have occurred in the state’s wild areas since Smokey was “born.”
“I have the honor of leading the incredibly talented and amazing staff at the Washington state Department of Natural Resources, and the Washington state Department of Natural Resources has the responsibility for leading our wildland wildfire prevention and response efforts in this state,” Upthegrove said. “And despite having the finest firefighters in the nation and despite being very well equipped and doing good work on prevention, detection and response, one thing we know is that we will always have wildfires and we will always be at risk and one of the things that’s important is to make sure we’re prepared for that and that our communities are resilient.”
Upthegrove called the launch of Wildfire Ready Neighbors in Southeast Thurston County a “significant step in wildfire preparedness,” especially as wildfires become more of a year-round situation.
“Take a look at Southern California and the Palisades fire that was in January,” Upthegrove said. “And they’re also increasingly severe consequences for fires, and also, this is no longer an Eastern Washington issue. This is an all-of-Washington issue. We’re seeing more and more fires here in Western Washington. And the great thing about the Wildfire Ready Neighbor’s program is the residents and property owners can receive free custom plans as well as schedule one-on-one meetings with experts and they can learn how to reduce fire risk through really simple but impactful actions, things like removing flammable debris, cleaning roofs and gutters and creating defensible space around your homes.”
Upthegrove also spoke about more intensive steps residents can take, such as hardening homes using fire-resistant materials or installing vents to block embers.
The commissioner of public lands told Yelm Mayor Joe DePinto that the City of Yelm should be proud of the way the city has grown, and that it’s worth protecting from wildfire.
SETFA Fire Chief Mark King spoke next, thanking Jesse Duvall, DNR’s community resilience coordinator, and Kelly Corey, SETFA’s wildland coordinator and lead organizer of the event.
“Each year, our crews respond to over 4,000 calls,” Chief King said. “This includes… medical events, rescues, HAZMAT and fires. And in the fire category, without question, the largest increase in any category is wildland fires. I’ve been here 26 years. Yes, we had wildland fire 26 years ago, but nowhere near the number nor magnitude we see today. These are not just fires occurring in isolated parts of the state. They’re not just news stories from the other side of the state, they’re occurring here.”
King encouraged attendees to sign up for the Wildfire Ready Neighbors program, saying that wildfire preparation is about working in cooperation with agency partners and the community.
Thurston County Commissioner Rachel Grant pointed out that, in 2023, the western side of the Cascade Mountain Range saw more wildfires than the eastern side. She mentioned the Almeda fire in Ashland, Oregon, that destroyed over 2,000 homes, many of them belonging to low-income families. Only 40 of the people who applied got FEMA assistance, Grant said.
“As neighbors, we need to be thinking about how to protect our people if something like this happens,” Grant said.
Sarah Moorehead, executive director of the Thurston Conservation District, said one of the roles of the TDC is to “facilitate important conversations about what our community needs are and help us plan for the future and take actions to prepare our homes, our farms, our forests, all against wildfire through things like on-site planning (and) these home assessments through Wildfire Ready Neighbors.”
“And they all result in projects, like home hardening… all the way up to selective forest thinning,” Moorehead said.
Yelm mayor Joe DePinto spoke about the city’s partnership with SETFA that includes communication during city planning and public safety meetings. DePinto said this partnership has allowed SETFA to provide input on various city strategies, like making adjustments to building codes, or tackling properties that could turn into large fires.
“By addressing these risks head on, we protect both the environment and the community’s wellbeing,” DePinto said.
Following the media portion, Jesse Duvall, DNR’s community resilience coordinator, led attendees across the street to demonstrate a home survey, showing various free and low-cost ways a homeowner can make their home more resilient to fire, as well as potential hazards to look out for, like trees and landscaping that border a home’s exterior.
Next up was SETFA’s car cutting exhibition, where firefighters demonstrated how they might rescue a person trapped inside a car. Using three eDraulic rescue tools, the spreader, the cutter, and the ram, known collectively as the jaws of life, the firefighters, led by Tony Brosco, systematically removed the windows, doors and roof of the sedan, before twisting and bending what was left of the frame.
