Thanks to everyone who attended the meeting on 2/16/17, we have enough interest to go forward with a Firewise project on 146th. We are fortunate that Deputy Chief Greg Tryon of Eastside Fire & Rescue, Jarret Griesemer of King Conservation District and Linda Vane of King County Parks & DNR have been so supportive of our community. They put a great deal of time and energy into assessing our hazards and tailoring their presentation to our neighborhood.
Zone map: Jarret Griesemer drew 30-ft and 100-ft buffer zones around homes on SE 146th St on the attached aerial photo. These are zones of protection for Firewise landscaping with the goal of fuel reduction — limiting the amount of flammable vegetation and materials surrounding your house and increasing the moisture content of remaining vegetation.
See more about these zones at http://firewise.org/wildfire-preparedness/firewise-toolkit.aspx?sso=0.
King County has a brochure on wildfire safety tips (the one handed out at Firewise presentation), ‘Fire safety tips for rural homeowners’ at http://your.kingcounty.gov/dnrp/library/water-and-land/forestry/forestfire/FirewiseBrochure-rev.pdf A list of fire-resistant native plant and Ciscoe Morris videos are at http://www.kingcounty.gov/services/environment/water-and-land/forestry/forestfire.aspx
Individual assessments: Ten people on SE 146th Street and seven others in Mirrormont have requested Jarret Griesemer &/or Linda Vane to walk around their properties and give them an individual assessment and suggest ways to make their homes more Firewise. If you want to be added to their list, please contact me or email them directly at Linda.Vane@kingcounty.gov jarret.griesemer@kingcd.org
Pruning workshop: Linda Vane is scheduling a pruning workshop at 10:00 a.m. on March 11th at Sheila & Doug Nast’s home to provide instruction on best practices for pruning trees and shrubs.
Fuel reduction: Now is the time to start hauling dead branches out to the road in preparation for chipping. Please stack piles so the butt ends of all branches face in one direction. You may want to partner with your neighbors to hand branches up or down the slope. You need to be an MCA member in order to be eligible for your branches to be chipped (your only cost for chipping).
Help: You can get help hauling branches from Tahoma High Schoolers at $14/hour through Brian Olson olsonsoutdoorimprovements@gmail.com — start scheduling them now, and pay Brian directly. Or, if you need more help, you might consider partnering with your neighbors to negotiate a good deal with Brian for his professional crew, who can help with pruning and bigger jobs.
Vacant lots/work party: While your first priority is making your own home more firewise, we want to organize a work party to work together on fuel reduction on the vacant lots, probably on April 15th. Russ Gawler at Fire Station 76 offered EF&R volunteers to help you, if they are available.
Resources: See the attached “How to Have a Firewise Home” How to have a Firewise home (PDF, 826 KB) and “Firewise Landscape/Construction Guide” landscaping-2 (a caveat on this one is that it includes a few recommendations for vegetation management that are geared toward eastern Washington like “space conifer trees 30 feet between crowns”).
Funding: King Conservation District has earmarked $2000 for our Firewise project. These funds can go toward chipping branches and some work on the vacant “Landman” lots owned by Woodland Properties.
MCA Dues: Please pay your $50 annual MCA dues now so that you can benefit from this MCA-sponsored project. This will be your only cost, unless you opt to hire high-school helpers or Brian’s crew.
Track your hours: In order to remain a Firewise Community and qualify for grant funding, we need to contribute $2 per capita annually—about $3000. This includes the worth of your labor, valued at $20/hour, as well as any cash expenses. So please report the hours you spend on Firewise activities to me (including cleaning your roof)—as well as money you spend for roof cleaning, pruning and hauling branches.
Fire concerns: One homeowner on 146th reported there was a young kid arsonist in the neighborhood about 15 years ago. Another homeowner reported on a conversation with David Kappler on a hike; he said homeless folks camping in Tiger Mtn State Forest use campfires. Linda Vane said there are close calls every year in Western Washington, with fires roaring uphill and burning fast.
Triage: Deputy Chief Tryon emphasized that, in the event of a fire, firefighters determine which homes are defensible or not. Given limited resources, they will focus on homes that can be saved. If our community is well-prepared, we have a better chance of protecting it. He also recommended storing elsewhere: important papers or copies, photos, information you’d need for insurance.
Contact info:
Thanks for doing your part to make Mirrormont safer!
Linda Shepherd
President, Mirrormont Community Association
president@mirrormont.org
