HomeMy WebLinkAbout092425 email - The Fire is on Mt White and is in range of West JeffersonALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Submitted because the Board Chair mentioned there was no upcoming Monday meeting remaining in September (so this is my comment to submit for that purpose of no meeting for me to attend).
Requesting a response like what you all tend to do at the Monday meetings, but please if so...not limited to confirming there's no meeting Monday.
Mentioned tonight in the presentation by the Jefferson County Fire Summit fire folks they stated something about Bear Gulch a mile or so from the base of White Mt; they already have
that wrong/outdated especially since they stated to my question they are getting daily information. The fire is clearly on White Mt and significantly, and I would hope they have access
to the latest and greatest before I do.
That's the Duckabush headwaters below the fire, the fire looks to have jumped the river from the main stem to the south (not in this pdf)....what fire science does that tell you?
Also, look hard left of where the fire is projected and that is the Enchanted Valley/Enchanted Valley Chalet in Western Jefferson County. A significant historical cultural resource
that stood the challenge in the 9th Circuit Court in favor of the NOT trumping of Historic Preservation over the Wilderness Act. Is a human caused fire in the wilderness going to destroy
this valuable historic structure? Now you know, and also the potential for this to be a western Jefferson County issue with the Quinault River drainage that doesn't have a reliable
road access solution for the designation in Incident command "Full Suppression". Also note that the closure maps have been extended right adjacent to the Enchanted valley floor. Throughout
the life of this particular fire those closure designations have been quite indicative of where the fire is moving unsuppressed.
Is Jefferson County going to step up and engage the NPS to provide structure protection to the Chalet in advance to a clear threat of fire as was the case when Staircase ranger station
of 1929 received due diligence when the threat was in Mason County? There is no fire district in Jefferson County in the Quinault segment of Jefferson County to be watching out and
carrying that message. This is an easy one without even the road, the valley floor is quite accessible to helicopters as long as the wilderness designation minimum tool problem along
with the questionable flight tolerances of the ONP Fire Management Plan doesn't stand in the way until the true emergency makes it clear what the Chalet is likely to face in this event.
Ed Bowen