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Scene
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Opinion
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Sports
Events
May 18, 2022
Vol. 122 NO. 7
By the students, for the students
CWU Chief of Police inducted to RAD Hall of Fame By Megan Rogers Staff Reporter
Kittitas County prepares for wildfire season Kittitas County Fire and Rescue host informative events about wildfire prevention. Photo by Wayne Gray/The Observer
By Wayne Gray Staff Reporter Every year, the Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue (KVFR) team work on combating a major issue - wildfires. Wildfires stem from many causes, including developments and mismanaged private properties. Because these causes are ongoing, KVFR looks to educate themselves and the public on how to prevent wildfire damage. Sinclair said Kittitas County will continue to experience severe wildfires due to human interactions with the landscape, but communities can limit fire frequency and damages by properly managing lands. “You either manage the forest, or mother nature does,” Sinclair said. “Mother nature only has one tool, and that’s fire.” At a community education event hosted by KVFR on May 8 at Station 2-9, fire management personnel discussed the primary causes of wildfires and how to prevent them. At the event, Sinclair referred to the intersection of human development, nature and the interactions that occur because of it as the Wildland Urban Interface. Sinclair said humans are the primary cause of fires, and as Kittitas County continues to grow, so will the risk of large scale fires. Sinclair said past fire management efforts adopted an approach that called for every fire to be extinguished rather than controlled, and that approach has resulted in an “overstock” of dry, dead growth that would have otherwise burned away. “We took an approach that we put out every fire,” Sinclair
said. “We weren’t doing enough prescriptive burns.” Sinclair said in overgrown areas, fires can be caused by common roadway hazards such as sparks from unsecured chains dragging on pavement or auto accidents if roadside brush isn’t cleared away. According to Sinclair, all of these factors have been made worse by climate change and are contributing to wildfires in an unprecedented way. “When I was a kid, we didn’t have fires like we do now,” Sinclair said. “It used to be that a fire of 1,000 acres was a big fire and now we’re getting 100,000 acre fires, 20,000 acre fires, 10,000 acre fires.” According to Deputy Chief Rich Elliott the shrub-steppe and grasslands are problem areas for fires. Elliot’s statements align with CWU Professor Megan “Walsh’s previous interview (see “CWU professor says invasive grasses and wildfires are a growing problem for Washington ecosystems”). Walsh said the proliferation of invasive grasses contributes to a fire cycle, the effects of which grow worse after each fire, destroying native plant growth and increasing the risk of wildfires in Kittitas County. Fire Management Officers Spencer Slyfield and Court Martin from the Washington Department of Natural Resources said they often encounter properties that either have large areas of brush or dead standing trees. Slyfield said properties in Northern Kittitas County face unique risks due to their rural location, often narrow access roads and close proximity to forests.
Slyfield said fires that occur at rural properties, while seemingly isolated, put more populated areas at risk as well. “You could get ember showers a mile away,” Slyfield said. Slyfield and Martin said the narrow access roads, preferred by many rural property owners, may provide security but constrain fire response efforts. Martin said other concerns for firefighters are gated communities, especially those that don’t have procedures in place to allow access for emergency vehicles. “Gated communities are becoming a larger and larger problem,” Martin said. According to Sinclair, property owners in Kittitas County that live elsewhere are problematic because maintaining fire safety year-round and establishing communication with property owners in the event of a fire can prove difficult. “There’s a lot more that we can be doing as humans to lessen the fire problem, especially as it relates to in and around homes,” Sinclair said. Martin said even when property owners make efforts to maintain fire safety by trimming back brush and dead trees, they create a larger fire risk if they don’t properly dispose of the trimmings. Slyfield said that most property owners comply with requests to clear away fire dangers. “More often than not, land owners are willing,” Slyfield said. “We’re there to educate and help them out.” Sinclair, Slyfield and Martin said the education event was one of many, with hopes to host more like it as wildfire season approaches.
The CWU Chief of Police Jason Berthon-Koch with the CWU Police Department was inducted into the Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) hall of fame. Berthon-Koch has been teaching RAD classes for 18 years. “I was very honored by the fact that I was selected for this,” Berthon-Koch said. “It is an individual award given to me, but I couldn’t do the teachings and we couldn’t get what we have at to the level that we’re at now, without all of the assistance and Police Chief Jason Berthon-Koch the help from the CWU police CWU was named into the RAD hall of fame. instructors, the RAD instructors.” Photo courtesy of CWU RAD allows Berthon-Koch to teach people how to defend them- ter and the 2016 Susan B. Anthoselves in dangerous situations. ny Award from RAD Systems Inc. According to the official RAD Berthon-Koch was born in Elwebsite, their purpose is to “pro- lensburg, but grew up in Fresno, vide a truly holistic approach to California. After high school, he self-defense education, support- joined the U.S. Coast Guard and ing the necessity of continuous later moved back to Ellensburg. learning in order to provide realBerthon-Koch was an acistic options for each population counting major at CWU. He beas they go through life.” came a Kittitas County Sheriff’s Berthon-Koch said he first dis- reserve and said he fell in love covered RAD in the early 2000s. with law enforcement. He was “I was looking for a program also a corrections officer at Kittito bring to campus to support tas County Corrections Center. students at that time, to teach “I love having the ability to them personal safety and to help someone who in most cases teach them ideas on how to be is experiencing their worst day safe in life,” Berthon-Koch said. ever,” Berthon-Koch said. “I came across the RAD proAssistant Chief Eric Twaites, gram and it fit everything that who has been working alongside we wanted to teach.” Berthon-Koch for over 22 years, Berthon-Koch said one said one of Berthon-Koch’s greatpart of RAD is learning about est qualities is his compassion. risk reduction. “He has an absolute passion “We start out and we dis- for community service,” Twaitcuss in-depth on personal safety es said. “Whether that’s been the [and] how to reduce our risks of focal point of the department or becoming a victim of a crime,” being out there with the othBerthon-Koch said. “We talk er officers making sure that we about safety in your home, we provide the best service to our talk about safety in your car, as community.” you’re traveling [and] safety in Twaites also said that Beran elevator.” thon-Koch has a “servant’s heart” Along with his recent induc- and wants to make sure everyone tion into the RAD Hall of Fame, is safe and secure. Berthon-Koch has also won other Berthon-Koch said it is imawards including the 2004 CWU portant to have self-defense classes Police Officer of the year. He was on college campuses. also the recipient of the Keys to “Things can happen anySuccess Award from the Center time,” Berthon-Koch said. “It’s for Student Empowerment at important to spend some time CWU, Law Enforcement Hero on understanding how we all Award given by the American can be safe in a world that someRed Cross Kittitas County Chap- times is not safe.”