Tom McMackin
Firewise Information board at the Community Center
We live in a quite unique and beautiful place, with the benefit of being part of an extraordinary and diverse community of folks! High Prairie has a wildness and solitude that are long lost in the growing metropolitan environments many of us have moved away from over the years. Fire is a critical aspect of that wild nature. It is a force that has sculpted this place in much the same way as the multiple flows of basalt and colossal Lake Missoula floods in the scheme of this Gorge-ous creation. Most of us have only scant bits of information or understanding of wildfire from news broadcasts and the concerned conversations those news stories stir up during Summer’s eruption of forest or grass fires.
Firewise is a wildfire educational and community support organization started in 1986 and is part of the National Fire Protection Association. The NFPA was established in 1886 to work toward reducing the burden of fire related loss to individuals, communities and governing agencies in the US. Firewise concepts and principles were introduced to us through grant work that Scott Brewer, Lyle’s Fire Chief at the time, started in 2012/13. His work was carried forward with due diligence by Fred Henchell from that beginning and continues with the help of James Day and more recently with a core group of other High Prairie residents. Their dedication to the importance of safely living together as a community with the potential of wildland fire has been key to High Prairie’s national recognition in 2016.
The High Prairie Community Council has supported this effort and made initial work possible by providing matching funds for a Firewise grant. Two projects, improved road signage to aid emergency responders on Oda Knight Road and installation of a Firewise bulletin board at HPCC, are near completion. These are the kinds of activities that will improve the safety of our community in the event of any emergency.
An informational meeting, ‘Living with Fire,’ will take place at the HP Community Center on Saturday, March 18, 2017, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The program will start with a talk about wildland fire to broaden understanding of this force of Nature. There will be a forum of ideas for current residents of considerations or actions they can use to live safely in this dynamic ecosystem. Attendees will also be pointed to resources and assistance available to them, both within our FireWise community and from supporting agencies.
Our community’s efforts to be wildfire-smarter and actively use Firewise principles to create fire defensible spaces bring two big benefits: The program calculates all our efforts as a significant dollar value which then balances grants or material support from the Firewise program for further fire safety activities; and the real improvements that the time and work performed will provide individually and to the community of High Prairie.
Our hope and our efforts are directed at again being a Firewise USA community early in 2017, with goals to be ‘recognized’ for being a safer, stronger, fantastic place to live in the High Praire community! If you are interested helping to accomplish those goals… Please contact us !
And please, everyone, come to the meeting on March 18 to learn more about wildfire and what can be done to lessen its impact.
Contacts and Links:
Contact email ~ firewise.onhighprairie@ gmail.com
June 2016 HP summary of Firewise program (progress through the steps has not been updated) ~ http://www.highprairie.us/high-prairie-fire-safety-firewise-communities-program/
Firewise website ~ http://www.firewise.org
Firewise history ~ http://www.firewise.org/about/history.aspx?sso=0
Firewise tool kits ~ http://www.firewise.org/wildfire-preparedness/firewise-toolkit.aspx