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The Burning Season
Summer 2001
Few homeowners are ready
JOHN DODGE, THE OLYMPIAN
Originally published July 29, 2001 LITTLEROCK -- The threat of a wildfire is something Cedric and Barbara Drucquer take seriously, especially in this drought year.
With the Capitol State Forest bordering their Waddell Creek home on two sides, the retired couple are among thousands of South Sound residents whose life in the woods carries with it a higher fire risk to their property and homes.
"It's horrifying," Barbara, 65, said of the fire danger. "We have a few belongings packed and ready to go if a fire breaks out."
"We're considering moving out of the woods," Cedric, 67, added.
For those who stay, it's important to create defensible space around their homes, fire officials said. But most South Sound homeowners who live in forest settings don't take the risk of wildfire seriously enough, officials say.
"Less than 5 percent of the residents in our fire district have done anything to protect their homes," estimated Davie Foster of the Littlerock Fire Department.
Statewide, the response to fire prevention tips offered by the state Department of Natural Resources and local fire departments has been better than that, said Bob Bannon, a DNR fire prevention specialist.
Bannon's group has mailed out more than 100,000 homeowner fire safety kits over the past five years. Based on follow-up surveys, roughly a third of the homeowners receiving them took steps to protect their homes, he said.
"The main reasons they don't do it are they can't imagine the altered landscape or the size of the job scares them off," he said.
Tumwater area resident Larry LaFontaine, 77, said the outdoor burning ban in the urban growth area he lives in keeps him from clearing limbs and trees away from his home.
Bannon said his agency hopes to offer a program next year to help chip and haul wood debris from at-risk homeowners' properties in Thurston County.
To put things in perspective, South Sound is not a hotbed of major wildfires. The 50 inches of annual rainfall helps dampen the threat. The last major forest fire was in a remote stretch of Olympic National Park above Lake Cushman in 1985. "South Sound doesn't have the potential for huge catastrophic fires," said DNR's Mark Gray. "But the fuels here do dry out in the late summer." A DNR map of outdoor, out-of-control fires between 1985 and 1994 paints a slightly different picture. South Sound and the Spokane area had the highest number of fires requiring firefighter responses during those 10 years. More than 80 percent of the wildfires on state and private land are caused by people. It could be a tossed cigarette, a debris burn that gets away or an unattended campfire. Human carelessness is what has the Drucquers most concerned. "On the Fourth of July, it's terrifying," Cedric said. "We've had burning fireworks debris raining down on our home." Fortunately, he noted, the home has a fireproof tile roof. Cedar Flats Road resident Carlyle Ludwig also borders Capitol State Forest. He stores firewood away from his home and has removed trees from next to his home. The roof is tile, and he's about to replace his home's wooden siding with nonflammable material. But like so many who chose to live in the woods, Ludwig said the fire risk is worth it. "I love my place," he said. The Olympian Copyright 2001 back to main The Burning Season index
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