County Evaluates Wildfire Hazard and Emergency Planning

If I have one message it is to sign up for PCAlert.”

In November 2023, the Pierce County Council asked the Department of Emergency Management to evaluate risk, preparedness, and evacuation strategies for the Key Peninsula. DEM presented its report to the council in March.

Overall, the potential wildfire hazard is low to moderate for most of the Key Peninsula, but there is about 9% of the area where the hazard risk is high to extreme.

Todd Kilpatrick, DEM planning supervisor, said the department calculated the risk of wildfire based on data from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and the United States Forest Service and other agencies. They analyzed fuel type, fuel load, slope (uphill versus downhill), slope aspect (direction of the slope), and proximity to infrastructure.

“The map doesn’t describe absolute risk and doesn’t give a forecast,” Kilpatrick said. “It is a snapshot of what risk could be.”

There are challenges in dealing with any emergency on the Key Peninsula. Many homes are on deeply forested land accessed by narrow, winding roads. There are several bottlenecks on the Key Peninsula Highway and should the highway itself be blocked south of Lackey Road there is no alternative route.

Water infrastructure is limited. Although there are over 90 Group A Wells with more than 15 connections, most water is supplied through individual and small group well systems.

“The good news is that prevention is the key,” Kilpatrick said. “Fires are overwhelmingly started by human activity such as camping, negligence, fireworks, smoking, and transmission lines.”

Most mitigation efforts, Kilpatrick said, happen at an individual or neighborhood level. Such efforts could include an evaluation of home property and landscaping with recommendations to decrease risk of fire. The Key Peninsula Fire District has a firewise protection packet on their website and will evaluate properties and make recommendations to decrease wildfire hazard. The Pierce County Conservation District also provides evaluations.

A neighborhood meeting can provide people with the tools they need to work together in the event of an emergency, identifying who might be particularly vulnerable or who has a chainsaw. Pierce County Emergency Neighborhood Teams and Peninsula Emergency Preparedness Coalition can meet with neighborhood groups to help them prepare for emergencies.

“There hasn’t ever been an evacuation on the Key Peninsula, and evacuations are just one of the tools. The other might be shelter in place,” Kilpatrick said.

Anne Nesbit, public information officer for KPFD, reiterated the need for prevention. Pay attention to the burn ban. Report offenders. Have your property evaluated.

“We are resource starved,” in emergencies, she said. “Sometimes there is a belief that you wait for a knock on the door to be told to evacuate, but that is not going to happen. Know your circumstances. You may want to think about leaving sooner rather than later if you are in an area with limited access. Make your exit and communication plan based on where you live.”

Director of DEM Arel Solie said, “If I have one message it is to sign up for PCAlert.” It is a free system that will send notifications of emergencies via text or email. Anyone who signs up can specify up to five Pierce County locations such as home, work, or a child’s school to receive alerts about threats or adverse conditions at those locations.

Tuuli Bookman, chair of the Peninsula Emergency Preparation Coalition, is working to establish a flotilla to help in the event of an evacuation. Bookman said that building from Bainbridge Island’s experience will make it possible to create a local flotilla in two years. It is a grassroots process requiring boats and crew to be screened and trained. Because marinas and docks could be damaged in a disaster, the focus is on small boats that ferry a few people at a time from a beach to a larger vessel. “We are really looking for smaller, more nimble boats that can be launched from the beach,” she said.

DEM concluded its report with three recommendations.

First, the Key Peninsula Fire District, with the support of DNR, Pierce Conservation District, and DEM, should conduct focused site-specific risk assessments in the extreme and high hazard potential areas to make recommendations to property owners.

Second, DEM should assist the community in developing an evacuation and shelter-in-place plan.

Third, Planning and Public Works should determine what improvements could be made in the identified bottlenecks in case of an evacuation and assess the potential for connecting public roads to existing private roads for creating suitable evacuation routes.