NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
U.S. Northwest towns ‘woefully unprepared’ as fire risk grows
By TOM JAMES
Associated Press
ISSAQUAH, Wash. —
Nestled in the foothills of
Washington’s Cascade Moun-
tains, the bustling Seattle sub-
urb of Issaquah seems an
unlikely candidate for anxiety
over wildfires.
The region, famous for
its rainfall, has long escaped
major burns even as global
warming has driven an
increase in the size and num-
ber of wildfires elsewhere in
the American West.
But according to experts,
previously too-wet-to-burn
parts of the Pacific Northwest
face an increasing risk of sig-
nificant wildfires due to the
same phenomenon: Climate
change is bringing higher
temperatures, lower humid-
ity and longer stretches of
drought.
And the region is uniquely
exposed to the threat, with
property owners who are
often less prepared for fire
than those in drier places and
more homes tucked along
forests than other western
states. In Issaquah and towns
like it across the region, that
takes a shape familiar from
recent destructive Califor-
nia wildfires: heavy vegeta-
tion that spills into backyards,
often pressing against houses
in neighborhoods with few
escape routes.
“The only thing that’s
keeping it from going off
like a nuclear bomb is the
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
A development of houses stand next to a forest and in view of Mt. Si in the Cascade foothills
of North Bend, Wash.
agencies and released in 2018
said the Pacific Northwest
had warmed nearly 2 degrees
Fahrenheit since 1900 and that
trend would continue into the
century, leading to warmer
winters and less mountain
snowpack.
Experts say these long-
term changes create a special
risk in Pacific Northwest for-
ests: Even a modest increase
in contributing factors, like
days without rain, could make
them much more prone to
burning.
“Those are the kinds of
changes that amount to taking
a forest and pushing it over the
edge,” said Michael Medler,
weather,” said Chris Dicus, a
California Polytechnic State
University, San Luis Obispo
professor and head of the
Association for Fire Ecology,
a national group that studies
wildfire.
With historically short
summers, the densely for-
ested coastal territory stretch-
ing from northwestern Ore-
gon to British Columbia has
long been cloaked in a protec-
tive veil of moisture, making
even medium-sized fires rela-
tively rare.
But global warming is
changing the region’s seasons.
A national climate assess-
ment prepared by 13 federal
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
WEDNESDAY
Mostly sunny and
hot
Sunny to partly
cloudy and hot
101° 67°
99° 65°
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
Partly sunny
SATURDAY
Pleasant with
some sun
Not as warm
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
93° 62°
88° 61°
81° 58°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
104° 68°
101° 66°
96° 65°
91° 64°
OREGON FORECAST
85° 58°
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
70/57
96/59
101/65
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
102/72 Lewiston
85/58
103/65
Astoria
68/57
Pullman
Yakima 102/67
88/54
102/69
Portland
Hermiston
89/63
The Dalles 104/68
Salem
Corvallis
84/57
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
97/62
Bend
87/56
94/57
98/61
Ontario
102/69
Caldwell
Burns
State program for children of
imprisoned mothers in jeopardy
SALEM (AP) — A pro-
gram serving children
with mothers in prison is
in jeopardy after the Ore-
gon Legislature ended its
funding.
The Statesman Journal
reports the Family Pres-
ervation Project connects
more than 400 women at
Coffee Creek Correctional
Facility with their chil-
dren, providing supervised
visits, parent coaching,
resource centers and post-
prison support.
One of the project’s pro-
grams, Between the Lines,
lets incarcerated parents
read books into recorders
then mail the recording and
book to their children. Oth-
0.00"
0.00"
0.03"
4.56"
5.10"
5.95"
WINDS (in mph)
100/66
94/55
are more prone to burning
than mature forests.
But while officials in Cal-
ifornia and other states have
begun reforming forest-edge
building and landscaping
rules, such codes are rare in
the Northwest, and virtually
none apply to houses already
built, said Tim Ingalsbee, who
heads Firefighters United for
Safety Ethics and Ecology,
an Oregon-based nonprofit
that works to update building
codes.
“The western slopes of the
Cascades and the Northwest
are just woefully unprepared,”
Ingalsbee said.
Wildfires get harder to
fight when they penetrate
neighborhoods, which hap-
pened last year in Paradise,
California, where dozens
died and thousands of homes
burned.
Like Paradise, Issaquah
has neighborhoods sur-
rounded by dense forests,
some with only a single road,
and strong seasonal winds.
California’s fires were
a wake-up call, said Rich
Burke, deputy fire chief with
the Eastside Fire Department,
which oversees fire protection
in and around Issaquah, popu-
lation 39,000.
Wildfire-oriented setbacks
and less-flammable materials
still aren’t written into build-
ing codes on the city’s edges.
But Burke said the depart-
ment now hosts preparedness
trainings and has four wild-
land fire engines.
ers support those taking
care of inmates’ children
by offering camps, dona-
tions and gifts.
Funding for the past
two bienniums provided
$400,000 per biennium,
which represents about
half of the program’s bud-
get, said Family Preserva-
tion Project Director Jes-
sica Katz.
But after state support
failed to pass in the recently
ended legislative session,
there is a scramble to raise
$200,000 to continue oper-
ating until the next session
in February 2020.
In the United States,
more than 2.7 million chil-
dren have parents serving
time in prisons and jails.
Since 1991, this number
has doubled, partially due
to increasing female incar-
ceration rates.
A 2016 report by the
Annie E. Casey Foundation
found that 68,000 — 8%
— of Oregon children have
had a parent serve time in
prison or jail.
An estimated 80% of
incarcerated women are
mothers to minor children.
In 2010, the Oregon
Department of Corrections
funded the family program
at Coffee Creek prison in
Wilsonville in an effort
to address the impact of
incarceration on mothers
and their families.
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
99°
59°
90°
59°
113° (1961) 43° (2002)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
87/57
0.00"
0.00"
0.05"
9.61"
6.49"
8.00"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 93/61
88/57
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
101/67
99/69
97°
60°
89°
59°
109° (1904) 41° (1911)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
89/56
Aberdeen
97/65
99/71
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
86/61
a fire scientist and chair of
Western Washington Univer-
sity’s environmental studies
department.
Exactly when any one
part of the region will reach
that point is hard to predict,
and researchers stressed that
unknowns exist in forests that
have burned so infrequently
in the past. But all pointed to
changes already taking place.
For instance, the region’s
fire danger this year reached
above-normal levels three
months earlier than at any
time in more than 10 years,
driven partly by an abnor-
mally dry winter.
And fire counts are up: As
of late June, western Oregon
forests had seen double the
average number of fire starts
from the previous decade —
48 compared with 20. Wash-
ington jumped even further,
with 194 starts compared with
an average of 74.
Even the region around
Astoria, which frequently gets
100-plus rainy days per year,
has seen a dozen small fires in
2018 and 2019, according to
data from Oregon’s Forestry
Department. That compares
with an average of just two per
year over the previous decade.
Last year, 40% of Wash-
ington’s wildfires were on its
wetter western side, which
was “alarming and a first for
us,” Janet Pearce, a spokes-
woman for that state’s natu-
ral resources agency, said in
an email.
The risk is ampli-
fied by development pat-
terns throughout the Pacific
Northwest.
A 2013 Headwaters Eco-
nomics survey of develop-
ment within 550 yards of for-
estlands found that just six
counties along the western
foothills of Washington’s Cas-
cade mountains host more
homes in such zones than all
of California.
Ray Rasker, who heads
the nonprofit land manage-
ment research group, cau-
tioned the report was nar-
rower than others — which
count development up to 1.5
miles from any wildland —
and other types of wild areas
Today
Medford
96/64
Wed.
NE 3-6
N 6-12
Boardman
Pendleton
SW 4-8
W 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
89/53
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:44 a.m.
8:17 p.m.
12:35 p.m.
11:44 p.m.
First
Full
Last
New
Aug 7
Aug 15
Aug 23
Aug 30
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 120° in Palm Springs, Calif. Low 34° in Stanley, Idaho
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
BRIEFLY
Passenger train stopped after
man makes threats
Police: Crash victim beat
officer who tried to help her
KLAMATH FALLS — Police say a pas-
senger train was forced to make an unsched-
uled stop in Oregon after a man threatened
to harm himself and others.
The Klamath County Sheriff’s Office
says 25-year-old Mason Lira of Fresno,
California, was charged with disorderly
conduct and interfering with public trans-
portation Sunday.
Police say Lira was arrested after the
Coast Starlight train from Los Angeles to
Seattle stopped west of Highway 58.
Authorities say train personnel con-
tacted police around 11 a.m. after Lira
made unusual gestures, statements about
weapons and threats to passengers and the
conductor.
First responders were dispatched to the
scene at Odell Lake near Shelter Cove.
Authorities say no weapons were found,
and there were no injuries reported.
The train with 272 passengers and 15
crew members was delayed for nearly five
hours.
PORTLAND — Authorities say a Port-
land woman who crashed her motorcy-
cle attacked a police officer with his baton
when he tried to assist her.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reported
the the officer was responding to another
call Friday when he saw the crash.
Police say the rider ran away when the
officer tried to help her. Authorities say
they struggled, and the woman grabbed the
officer’s baton and began hitting him.
Another officer used his Taser on the
woman, and she was arrested.
The first officer was treated and released
at a hospital.
Police identified the woman as 38-year-
old Angela Dunson of Portland. She was
arrested on attempted assault and other
charges.
The newspaper says its attempts to reach
her by phone were unsuccessful, and it
wasn’t clear if she had a lawyer.
— Associated Press
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
50s
ice
60s
cold front
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