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Edelweiss and Wild Land Fire Glossary
Burn Ban [Okanokgan County Link]: A burn ban generally prohibits all outdoor burning, including recreational fires, even those in metal fire pits. According to Okanogan County combustible materials include, but are not limited to outdoor burning of yard waste, non-emergency agricultural burning, exploding gun targets and bullet tracer rounds. Enclosed grills are okay, but need to be closely monitored for stray sparks. State parks and National Forests may issue their own burn bans. The Okanogan County Emergency Management webpage is the official host page for all the burn ban/restriction information for all unincorporated parts of Okanogan County.
C C & R’s [Link]: Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions. These are the rules that govern the Edelweiss Community.
Chimney: A topographic feature having walls that form a steep, narrow chute. In a fire, air flow is funneled to the chimney’s shape and increases in speed, which increases fire intensity. The Cassal Creek drainage in Edelweiss is an example.
Crown Fire: A fire that spreads from the crown (top) of one tree to the crown of another. Crown fires often spread faster than surface fires.
Defensible space: The buffer you create between a building on your property and the grass, trees, shrubs, or any wildland area that surround it. This space is needed to slow or stop the spread of wildfire and it helps protect your home from catching fire—either from embers, direct flame contact or radiant heat. Proper defensible space also provides firefighters a safe area to work in, to defend your home.
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) [Link]: This is Washington State’s wildfire fighting force. Approximately 600 permanent and temporary employees fight fires on more than 13 million acres of private and state-owned forest lands. The agency works with the National Weather Service to provide the fire weather forecasts and fire precaution levels. The Forest Resilience Division works to ensure forested ecosystems retain their resilience against disturbance mechanisms such as fire, insects, and diseases. Some Edelweiss projects are subject to regulations from this agency.
Edelweiss Rights of Way Fuel Reduction Project: A three-year project (2022-2025) funded by a special assessment to reduce fuels on Edelweiss-owned lots, chimneys, and rights of way—especially along roads—to make ingress and egress safer for fire-fighters and residents and to slow a wildfire.
Fire-resistant plants: Are those that do not readily ignite from a flame or other ignition sources. These plants can be damaged or even killed by fire, however, their foliage and stems do not significantly contribute to the fuel and, therefore, the fire’s intensity. Generally, deciduous trees and plants are less flammable than conifers and mature pines withstand fire better than firs.
Firebreak: A strip of land, at least 20 to 30 feet wide, from which all vegetation is removed down to bare, mineral soil each year prior to fire season.
Firewise: The ability to understand and employ strategies to live safely near a fire-dependent natural community.
Firewise USA [Link]: The national Firewise USA® recognition program provides a collaborative framework to help neighbors in a geographic area get organized, find direction, and take action to increase the ignition resistance of their homes and community and to reduce wildfire risks at the local level. Edelweiss is a member in good standing.
Fuelbreak (or shaded fuelbreak): An easily accessible strip of land of varying width (depending on fuel and terrain), in which fuel density is reduced, thus improving fire control opportunities. The stand is thinned, and remaining trees are pruned to remove ladder fuels. Brush, heavy ground fuels, snags, and dead trees are disposed of, and an open, park-like appearance is established.
Ground Fire: (sometimes called underground or subsurface fires): Occur in deep accumulations of humus, peat and similar dead vegetation that become dry enough to burn. These fires move very slowly but can become difficult to fully suppress. Occasionally, especially during prolonged drought, such fires can smolder all winter underground and then emerge at the surface again in spring.
Home ignition zone: The first 5 to ten feet of space surrounding a home or other building.
Incident Command System (ICS): A standardized approach to the command, control, and coordination of emergency response providing a common hierarchy within which responders from multiple agencies can be effective. We have one for the Edelweiss Community which has been shared with Fire District 6.
InciWeb [Link]: An interagency all-risk incident information management system. The web-based program provides information for wildland fire emergencies and prescribed fires, but can also be used for other natural disasters and emergency incidents such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.
Ladder fuels: Smaller trees and bushes that can be ignited by a surface fire and climb larger trees to become crown fires.
Okanogan County Electric Co-Op (OCEC) [Link]: Our electricity provider here in the Valley.
Okanogan County Conservation District [Link]: Conservation education and planning services are provided without charge to property owners and tenants within Okanogan Conservation District boundaries. A non-regulatory agency.
Okanogan County Emergency Management [Link]: Prepares for, responds to, and mitigates any emergency or disaster. This agency issues burn bans and manages emergency alerts, including evacuation notices.
Okanogan County Fire District 6 [Link]: Our local organization of volunteer and career firefighters that provide fire, rescue, and emergency response services throughout the Methow Valley. Main fire station is located in Winthrop; there is a small station near the intersection of Highway 20 and Lost River Road in Mazama.
Pine Bark Beetles. These beetles are drawn to fresh pine slash and downed or weakened pine trees. After colonizing an area, they can attack nearby live pine. This is why it is important to remove slash and chip downed trees. Some projects in Edelweiss are only done during the beetles’ dormant period.
Red flag warning: Critical fire weather conditions are either occurring or will occur shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior. No outdoor burning or use of spark causing tools such as welding torches or chainsaws. Note that OCEC will only reinstate power outages after a manual inspection of lines during these events, so outages can last longer than usual.
Surface Fire: Burns only surface litter and duff. These are the easiest fires to put out and cause the least damage to the forest.
U. S. Forest Service [Link]: The USFS manages 3.8 million acres of land in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, some of it adjacent to Edelweiss. This agency works closely with other federal, tribal, state, and local partners to manage wildland fires and to maintain, enhance, and restore healthy forest and grasslands conditions. Forest Service Road 100/East Fawn Creek Road within the bound of Edelweiss is the responsibility of the USFS. The USFS grants grazing leases to local ranchers, hence the many close encounters with cows here in Edelweiss.
Wildfire Ready Neighbors (WRN) [Link]: A division of DNR. Works with communities such as Edelweiss to provide free advice.
Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). The wildland–urban interface is a zone of transition between wilderness and land developed by human activity – an area where a built environment meets or intermingles with a natural environment. Human settlements in the WUI are at a greater risk of catastrophic wildfire. Edelweiss is located in the WUI!