MEDIA ADVISORY
May 24, 2012
Stevens County fuel reduction project credited for preventing spread of wildfire
Media invited to learn more, visit site
OLYMPIA – Already this year, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), in cooperation with federal and local wildfire protection partners, has kept a wildfire from becoming disastrous for a small community, thanks to a ‘wildfire fuel reduction’ project.
On May 6, 2012, an unattended debris fire escaped in the Sand Creek area in Stevens County, threatening homes and forestlands.
Fortunately, in March of 2010, DNR-managed local contract crews had completed thinning and pruning trees around 46 homes and 78 other structures in the Pierre Lake area with funding from a Bureau of Land Management National Fire Plan grant.
The unattended fire started to spread but was stopped short as it passed through the thinned trees. In addition, just a mile east of the fire, a new fire station, opened in 2011, Sand Creek Station #6, had a unit on the scene within minutes.
Learn more about this success story on DNR’s blog, Community wildfire preparedness prevents costly fire. Also contact Steve Harris at 509-685-2712, cell phone 509-995-4373, or steven.harris@dnr.wa.gov for interviews and visits to the location.
Media Contacts:
Steve Harris, DNR’s Northeast Region Office, 509-685-2712, cell 509-995-4373, steven.harris@dnr.wa.gov
Janet Pearce, Communications and Outreach, 360-902-1122, janet.pearce@dnr.wa.gov
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