Wildfire Hazard in Clallam County, North Olympic Peninsula
Clallam County ranked fifth out of 413 western counties in a study of the damage that could be caused by a wildfire. This study was not concerned with the likelihood of a fire; just the potential for catastrophic damages if a fire occurs.
Jefferson County ranked 58th in the same study. The study was co-authored by Peninsula College Professor Dwight Barry. He worked with the state Department of Natural Resources, local fire districts, Olympic National Park and Olympic Natural Forest to compile this information.
Basically, the hazard is so high in Clallam County because of the combination of a heavy fuel load, the dryness caused by being in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, and the fact that there are “a whole lot of people who like living in the woods,” as Barry put it.
The results of the study can be found here.
Jefferson County ranked 58th in the same study. The study was co-authored by Peninsula College Professor Dwight Barry. He worked with the state Department of Natural Resources, local fire districts, Olympic National Park and Olympic Natural Forest to compile this information.
Basically, the hazard is so high in Clallam County because of the combination of a heavy fuel load, the dryness caused by being in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, and the fact that there are “a whole lot of people who like living in the woods,” as Barry put it.
The results of the study can be found here.
Labels: Dwight Barry Peninsula College, fire hazard Clallam County, fire hazard Olympic Peninsula
posted by Tom Harper at 6:36 PM
6 Comments:
not to mention all the tinder roofs...I mean shake.
Anonymous, shakes are treated with a fire retardant.
yeah, tell that to all the people who's homes burned up in the Oakland Hills Fire!
Shakes are made of W-O-O-D so no amount of fire retards can fix it...aside from keeping it soaking wet all the time.
"Shake shingle roofs are not only made of combustible material, but the overlapping of the unevenly-shaped shingles provides thousands of crevices that make ideal traps for burning embers. And once a small fire becomes established under a shingle, applying water onto the top of the roof rarely will extinguish it. The roof usually has to be torn apart and accessed from below to put out the fire."
source: wildfire today
http://www.wildfiretoday.com/news/2009/6/5/usfs-employee-puts-out-fire-on-roof-of-ranger-station.html
Just to add: Many put shingle oil on their shakes to make them waterproof for the winter. I sorta remember spraying one customers house with some five gallons of the stuff-- and that was just the garage/shop portion.
Looking at the haze to the west made me think we already had a fire going somewhere.
Strong smell of - and very visible - smoke in the Elwha River Valley at 8:30 Wed evening. It's Widely dispersed north and south, as well as west into and apparently beyond Indian Creek Valley, and appears to extend to a considerable elevation. Its thorough dispersal suggests the source is much father west. I find no news of wildfire on the Olympic Peninsula.
Is the smoke in the Elwha Valley originating with the Duckabush fire reported in today's PDN and previously? Seems likely because no other wildfires are in the news. But it is surprising that a small fire on the east slopes of the Olympics should affect our atmosphere in our north central area so much. Smoke from the Duckabush fire shows in this cam view of the Olympics looking across Hood Canal from Kitsap Peninsula: http://www.drdale.com/cam/index.htm
It is notable that the smoke in Wednesday evening's cam movie is flowing easterly, then southerly down Hood Canal, not westerly into the mountains.
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