Friday, March 29, 2024

City considers new codes to protect structures from wildfire

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A look around at the landscape and topography surrounding Leavenworth coupled with reinforcements from staggering research, such as Rick Stratton’s April presentation of Leavenworth’s number one ranking for homes exposed to fires; it’s apparent Leavenworth is in significant danger from wildfire. 

At the June 10 study session, the council mulled over adopting a multi-layered element that plays an impactful role on the ever present wildfire hazard. There was discussion over the steps to adopting Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) codes.

Ross Frank, fire commissioner and Chumstick Wildfire Coalition member, and Dave Nalle, Chelan County Fire District No 3 Deputy Chief of Support Services and Prevention, along with a few others came to collaborate with the city on what all WUI codes entail for the city and residents. 

In order to attempt to combat the possibility of widespread structure damage, Fire District No. 3 and Development Services for the city reviewed Wenatchee and Chelan’s WUI codes. These codes are enforced to mitigate building risks in case of wildfire. The two entities found that Wenatchee’s is the most readable to glean from for application to Leavenworth residents. 

Development Services Manager, Lillith Vespier, alerted the council there will be some steps before the city can adopt some of the WUI codes offered. 

“Overall there was a consensus that the city of Wenatchee’s WUI codes are the most readable and beneficial to the public as far as understanding what’s expected and types of uses. But there’s going to be several steps we feel we should do before we adopt these codes,” said Vespier. 

The initial step, according to Vespier, would be conducting an assessment to determine where the primary and secondary zones are along with rating the protection levels. 

“I think the first step is mapping. Mapping is required and has to be provided to the public. In my mind that’s step one: what’s primary, what’s secondary. Then step two what are we going to require in primary or what are we going to require in secondary?” said Nelle. 

The primary zone is the areas where the immediate interface of the wild land is. Mapping these boundaries out conjured up debate amongst council members and Mayor Cheri Farivar.

“I think to basically call the whole city a primary zone is a real statement to the community about the significance of our risk, which there is,” said Mia Bretz, council member. 

In framing the entire city as primary comes with a flip side that Mayor Farivar pointed out - that will increase the cost of building and insurance rates, among other fine print. Nelle seconded this train of thought,

“If you call the whole city a primary our building permits will go way up,” said Nelle. This could scare off people from building within city limits. 

However, some council members remained weary of where to draw the line between primary and secondary boundaries. With wildfire causing major damage from structure to structure, the council mulled over how to approach the mapping aspect for the WUI codes. 

“I think about what we’ve seen in the Carlton fire, where I have friends that have lost their home. That what a large area and a fast moving wildfire in a much bigger scope than our little valley. And I think between ember showers and things like that, structure to structure fire, how could you partition out a more at risk area in such a small valley,” said council member Jason Lundgren. 

Joel Waliniski, City Administrator, made the point that the city doesn’t have to envelope all of the codes offered, but rather it’s a pick and chose format for selection. Some examples of the WUI codes are: siding requirements (limiting flammable siding), screening of venting to limit embers for entering a structure and screening of porch and deck supports. 

“I think it’s important to go through the WUI codes and select those things that best fit our city. We can’t swallow the whole urban interface, because the whole urban interface doesn’t fit our city,” said Nelle. 

 

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