Valley Record SNOQUALMIE
101RS YEA
WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015 n DAILY UPDATES AT WWW.VALLEYRECORD.COM n 75 CENTS
Firewise season
Statewide drought emergency declared; locals look to get prepared By ALLYCE ANDREW
SCHOOLS
SPORTS
Staff Reporter
‘Ladies Night’ league comes to Snoqualmie Falls Golf Course Page 7
The one summer event no one wants to welcome early is upon us: Wildfire season. Starting on April 15, the season sprawls until October 15, affecting private and public lands, including 13 million acres of private and state forestland under the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). With snowpacks only reaching 16 percent of its normal consistency, Washington State is experiencing the worst state-wide drought since 2005, according to the Department of Ecology. On Friday, May 15, Goy. Jay Inslee declared a state-spanning drought emergency, after his Emergency Water Executive Committee found 48 of 62 Washington watersheds reported
Allyce Andrew / Staff Photo
Tim Perciful, Mountain View Fire & Rescue, speaks at the Firewise Leadership Conference in Carnation about evacuation preparedness for families and pets. water supplies at 75 percent of normal or below. Fire season typically begins in early July and tapers off in late September, but the season shifted after the DNR recorded roughly 900 wildfires on more than 315,000 acres of its protected lands last year, adding up to the state’s worst fire season. “They’ve certainly gotten bigger and more intense,” DNR assistant
region manager for the South Puget Sound region, Doug McClelland, stated about the flourishing fires. McClelland, who spoke to the Record by phone, has worked in King County for more than 30 years and added that as more people move to the woods, they add heartier complications to the growing urban-fire interface problems. To prepare for the dry season, DNR is bringing on fire crews early
Snoqualmie Valley teachers hold rally for education Page 11
this year for training to protect their 12 million-acre span, but he said that during fire season, whether an employee’s job is trail maintenance or planting trees, it’s an “all-handson-deck” mentality. Even though fires have changed, McClelland said what’s needed to suppress them hasn’t. “What it takes to put out a fire has remained about the same,” he continued. “In reality, it takes hard-working people on the ground (to stop a fire). That hasn’t changed at all.” Crew work can involve anything from building trails around a fire and implementing hefty or tedious tools like bulldozers or axes and shovels, split between a 10-to-20 person crew. Safety begins with awareness. “If we’re all safe in the woods, we’ll be just fine,” McClelland urged before signing off. DNR staff noted that 75 percent of the catastrophic fires last year were human-caused, and though forest fires are largely ignited by lightning strikes, especially on the eastern side of the state, abandoned campfires, cigarette ash and downed power lines are also common triggers. SEE FIRE, 2
One happy day Heart of the Valley brings people together for fourth year running
INDEX
By CAROL LADWIG Editor
Opinion 4 On the Scanner 8 10 Calendar Classifieds 14-17 19 Puzzles
Vol. 101, No. 52 Courtesy Photo
No one was complaining Sunday at Snoqualmie’s Centennial Field Park. The 200-plus people gathered there dutifully moved two steps to the left, or four back, as requested by photographer Mary Miller for the fourth annual Heart of the Valley community photo. They chatted in line about what they were making, suggested other shapes, fiddled with the toy gliders provided for the day, and patted their, or other people’s dogs. Just as they finished the second formation, an old-school smiley face, Nancy Mickel ran across the field to hug a friend goodbye, because she had to go to work. “Nancy, come back, we need you as the dimple!” Miller’s assistant Anne Landry called over the PA system, but it was futile. After a few other formations, including the modern smiley
A ‘70s-style smiley face was one of the shapes in play in Sunday’s Heart of the Valley event.
SEE HAPPY, 3
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