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Snohomish County has adopted its first-ever plan to help people and businesses countywide prepare for and mitigate wildfires.
On Nov. 12, the Snohomish County Council unanimously approved and adopted the Snohomish County Community Wildfire Protection Plan, which is a framework for coordinated mitigation, preparedness, evacuation, post-fire recovery, and outreach efforts. County Executive Dave Somers signed off on the plan the next day.
The adopted plan is available at www.bit.ly/SnoCo_CWPP.
“Although we are entering flood season and wildfire risk is currently low for the county, it is important to prepare before the hazard is here,” Lucia Schmit, Snohomish County’s emergency management director, said in a news releases. “This plan will set us up well for next fire season as well as more localized future planning, including evacuation challenges and fuel reduction efforts.”
The plan is the result of two years’ work by a team that included area firefighters, state and federal agencies, local tribes, nonprofits, residents, landowners and Emergency Management staff, according to the county. It used geospatial analysis to determine which parts of the county are most at risk from fires. It also evaluated places where homes, farms and businesses mix directly with forest; about 130,000 people in the county live in such areas, according to the county, more than 15% of the county’s population.
The plan identifies 33 objectives and 70 strategies, including guidelines for reducing brush and other woody fuels that can prime forestlands for destructive fires and improved access to information about making homes and property more fire-resistant.
For residents, the plan includes a fire risk map of the county, evaluations of local firefighting capabilities, and lots of information on fire risk and mitigation for homeowners.
Passage of the plan follows years of warmer, drier, more fire-prone weather in the region. In 2022, the Bolt Creek Fire torched nearly 15,000 acres across east King and Snohomish counties, forced multiple safety closures that blocked U.S. Route 2 and unleashed smoke that repeatedly degraded air quality to dangerous levels across much of the community.
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