With Wildfire Awareness Month and National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day approaching in May, the Department of Natural Resources’ Northeast Regional Manager Pat Ryan along with Spokane County residents and fire and conservation districts, are expanding the Wildfire Ready Neighbors program for a third year in Spokane County.

 

Wildfire Ready Neighbors is a collaborative effort between the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), community members, home preparedness experts, regional fire and conservation districts, and other partners to better prepare those most at risk during wildfire season.

 

Wildfire Ready Neighbors connects residents with experts and tools to help them take proactive action – from small steps to large – to better protect their homes and surrounding property from wildfire.

 

Today, DNR was joined by Spokane County Fire District #3 Fire Chief Cody Rohrbach as well as Fire and Life Safety Educator Nick Jeffries to mark the third year expanding Wildfire Ready Neighbors in Spokane County. The group gathered at a property in Cheney’s Pine Meadows neighborhood that was in the direct path of 2021’s Pine Meadows Fire, which burned 165 acres.

 

“Wildfire Awareness Month is coming in May, and is an important reminder for us all that wildfire seasons in Washington are becoming longer and more destructive,” said Pat Ryan, Northwest Regional Manager for DNR. “With such severe wildfire conditions here in Spokane County, we cannot afford to be unprepared. That’s why we’re continuing to expand Wildfire Ready Neighbors across the county, because when we come together as neighbors, we can reduce the risk wildfire poses to our properties, homes, and communities.”

 

Wildfire Ready Neighbors builds upon existing efforts to encourage community engagement with renters, homeowners, and landowners. Across Washington, Wildfire Ready Neighbors is bringing communities together to take collective action by:

Residents across Spokane County can sign up today at wildfireready.dnr.wa.gov to receive a free custom action plan and request a no-cost home consultation where a wildfire expert will visit their property and develop a detailed action plan for wildfire preparedness.

 

Wildfire Ready Neighbors was founded in 2021 and has since launched in six Eastern Washington counties including Chelan, Okanogan, Spokane, Yakima, Kittitas and Klickitat County, and launched in Pierce, Mason and Thurston County this spring. To date, more than 4,000 residents across the state have signed up to receive their free, custom action plan and have pledged to take over 20,000 actions to prepare their homes and property for wildfire.

 

In 2022, DNR responded to 532 wildfires in Eastern Washington, 419 (78%) of which burned in its Northeast Region, which includes Spokane County.

 

“The time to take action is now, in the spring, ahead of the onset of wildfire season,” Ryan said. “Wildfires don’t stop at property lines. So we all have a role to play and a responsibility to make our communities, county, and state more resilient to wildfires by addressing the fire danger on our properties.”

 

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Communications Manager

360-902-1000