On Wednesday, September 1, the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Latino Community Fund (LCF), and the Washington Fire Adapted Communities (WAFAC) learning network announced a joint partnership to boost wildfire preparedness, with an emphasis on building capacity in Latino communities. The WAFAC network is administered by the Washington Resource Conservation and Development Council and includes 21 community-based organizations and nonprofits and seven agencies, including The Nature Conservancy, the Washington Resource Conservation and Development Council, Community Advancement for Family Education Wenatchee (CAFE), Nuestra Casa, and Latino Community Fund.  

 

Relative to population, Latinos living in the Western United States are twice as likely to live in areas affected by wildfire. But currently, many wildfire emergency and prevention efforts don’t reach many Latino residents because of the lack of language access, as well as institutional and socioeconomic barriers. The new partnership will provide capacity to local organizations who are leading community resilience work and to implement wildfire preparedness and recovery projects, including Spanish-language fire assessments, defensible space, and translation services.

 

“Despite the fact that wildfires hit these communities hard every year, wildfire outreach to Latino communities has never been given the attention nor the resources necessary,” said Commissioner Franz. “This partnership is a step toward bridging that gap. With new funding and committed partners, we can make critical progress on strengthening wildfire resilience in underserved communities.”

 

The efforts will be supported, in part, by funding from House Bill 1168, which included over $19 million for projects to improve community wildfire resilience.

 

“This partnership is a tremendous opportunity for the Latino Community that usually lacks access to local resources to prepare them for disaster emergencies like now, a yearly wildfire season,” said Oskar Zambrano, Senior Director of Civic Engagement of Advocacy for Latino Community Fund of Washington State. “Through this collaboration, we expect to build a foundation of trust with government agencies, like DNR, to continue a mutual learning model that will benefit everyone, keep our communities safe, and protect our precious natural resources. Furthermore, we want to acknowledge Commissioner Hillary Franz and her staff for actively listening to the concerns of our community and responding with a sincere ‘non-transactional’ partnership.”

 

LCF has led efforts to strengthen wildfire community resilience outreach efforts in Latino communities, particularly in areas vulnerable to wildfire in Central Washington. The new initiative would build on the successful work done to make Spanish-language home visits available to Spanish-language residents in the Wenatchee area, in partnership with Café Wenatchee.

 

“We value the relationships that we have built with partners to work on wildfire preparedness and land conservation,” said Alma Chacón from Café Wenatchee. “We have been able to take a community from the grassroots through learning about the environment and the history of wildfires and now have an engaged group working diligently to prepare the community at large on wildfire preparedness, understanding evacuation levels, and creating evacuation kits. Now, with the recent fires in Wenatchee, we are looking at different ways to support families with the recovery process.”

 

"By working together to support diverse communities in becoming fire-adapted, we're ensuring that solutions to our wildfire crisis are tailor-made to local needs and that we're encouraging the next generation of community leaders to create lasting results,” said David Mendoza, director of public advocacy and engagement for The Nature Conservancy in Washington. “The past work of WAFAC and LCF and their new partnership with DNR show that all members of our communities can play a leadership role, and we hope to inspire others to also see themselves as part of the solution."

 

“Throughout the last 3 years we have been curating a program by and for our local Spanish speaking community that educates the community on the importance of wildfire preparedness and develops community engagement,” said Caty Padilla, Executive Director of Nuestra Casa. “Being part of the WAFAC Network has made it possible for us to share our work with other stakeholders such as DNR and really ensure that our Hispanic community is part of the conversation when discussing natural resources. We are grateful for the opportunity to continue collaborating and building on the wildfire work we have been investing in.”

 

“Wildfire is constantly testing us, increasing its pace and scale each year throughout our state. The Washington Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network (WAFAC) consists of people who regularly work, connect, and learn to achieve better wildfire outcomes. We are taking these lessons learned, adapting them, and taking action to help our communities live with wildfire. Our goal is to ensure that the people and communities who are most affected by wildfire are visibly leading. We are grateful for the commitment from the Washington Department of Natural Resources and our partnership with Latino Community Fund and The Nature Conservancy to support local communities and the people that are doing the work to create safer communities. Together, we are excited to create a more resilient Washington,” said Hilary Lundgren, Director of WAFAC.

 

Washington has seen a record-breaking number of wildfires so far this season – there have already been more than 1,650 fires around the state, surpassing the number of acres burned in all of 2020. Those fires have burned more than 630,000 acres. Fire danger east of the Cascades remains high to extreme in all areas.

 

Commissioner Franz will be meeting with these partner organizations tomorrow in Yakima. Members of the press interested in speaking with the Commissioner or the partner organizations about this initiative should reach out to Ryan.Rodruck@dnr.wa.gov for details.

 

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