Embedded Files
Burn Ban starting June 1!
Deer Creek has started the process to apply for a Community Wildfire Defense Grant.
Many forested areas in both Eastern and Western Washington need to become more resilient to insect infestation, disease and wildfire. The DNR is committed to helping landowners protect their property from these threats. They offer free consultations to best determine your wildfire and forest health risks, prioritize potential actions you can take to reduce those risks, and then share in paying for the cost of treatment with qualified landowners (or get a grant to pay the entire cost.)
Reducing overcrowding in forests, through thinning or pruning back ladder fuels, reduces competition for light, water, and nutrients among remaining trees, making for a forest that is better able to stand up to threats including catastrophic fire. These treatments also increase our forests’ productivity, leading to a greater return on investment both in wood production and carbon sequestration.
Several programs help create fire-safe forests and communities, focusing on reducing wildfire risk and promoting forest health. Key programs include Firewise USA, Community Wildfire Defense Grants (CWDG), and state-level wildfire resilience initiatives. These programs emphasize community involvement, individual responsibility, and technical assistance for landowners.
While there is no guarantee that we will get the grant, we are going to start the process. If we get it this year, or next... we need to try!
The process to help make Deer Creek more fire resistant will happen in several steps.
Step 1 - Owners must make their own "defensible space" around their structures and properties. It's important to show we are doing our part!
Step 2 - Use THIS link to apply for a free forest consultation as part of a Defense Grant
Create a defensible space
Below is a simple graphic on what to do around your structures at Deer Creek.
GOAL: This zone is designed to prevent fames from coming in direct contact with the structure. Use nonfammable, hard surface materials in this zone, such as rock, gravel, sand, cement, bare earth or stone/concrete pavers.
CRITICAL STEPS
☐ Remove all fammable vegetation, including shrubs, slash, mulch and other woody debris.
☐ Do not store frewood or other combustible materials inside this zone.
☐ Prune tree branches hanging over the roof and remove all fuels within 10 feet of the chimney.
☐ Regularly remove all pine needles and other debris from the roof, deck and gutters.
☐ Rake and dispose of pine needles, dead leaves, mulch and other organic debris within 5 feet of all decks and structures. Farther than 5 feet from structures, raking material will not signifcantly reduce the likelihood of ignition and can negatively afect other trees.
☐ Do not use space under decks for storage.
GOAL: This zone is designed to give an approaching fre less fuel, which will help reduce its intensity as it gets nearer to your home or any structures.
CRITICAL STEPS
☐ Mow grasses to 4 inches tall or less.
☐ Avoid large accumulations of surface fuels such as logs, branches, slash and mulch.
☐ Remove enough trees to create at least 10 feet* of space between crowns. Measure from the outermost branch of one tree to the nearest branch on the next tree.
☐ Small groups of two or three trees may be left in some areas of Zone 2. Spacing of 30 feet* should be maintained between remaining tree groups to ensure fre doesn’t jump from one group to another.
☐ Remove ladder fuels under remaining trees. This is any vegetation that can bring fre from the ground up into taller fuels.
☐ Prune tree branches to a height of 6-10 feet from the ground or a third of the total height of the tree, whichever is less.
☐ Remove stressed, diseased, dead or dying trees and shrubs.
Obviously there is a LOT more to this process, but these are most critical and can usually be done by each owner.
Here is a LINK to a great PDF resource from Colorado that covers this in more detail.
Deer Creek has started a "fire committee" to help move this process along.
If you have any questions or would like to join this committee, please email the board.
Page updated
Report abuse