Allyn

Belfair

Grapeview

Hoodsport

Lilliwaup

Potlatch

Shelton

Union

Allyn

Belfair

Grapeview

Hoodsport

Lilliwaup

Potlatch

Shelton

Union

W a ter Sn o w / Ic eBa rren

>1,000 Y rs.91-100 Y rs.71-80 Y rs.

6-10 Y rs.

501-1,000 Y rs.36-40 Y rs. 301-500 Y rs.26-30 Y rs. 201-300 Y rs.16-20 Y rs. 151-200 Y rs.

101-125 Y rs.

Spa rselyVegeta ted

In determ in a te FireRegim e Cha ra cteristics

W ildfires m a y sprea d b y jum pin g o r spo ttin g, a s b urn in g m a teria ls a re c a rried b ywin d o r firesto rm c o n ditio n s. Burn in g m a teria ls c a n a lso jum p o ver ro a dwa ys,rivers, o r even fireb rea ks a n d sta rt dista n t fires. Updra ft c a used b y la rge wildfireeven ts dra w a ir fro m surro un din g a rea , a n d these self-gen era ted win ds c a n a lsolea d to the phen o m en o n kn o wn a s a firesto rm . W ildfires c a n c rea te their o wnc lim a te – m a kin g them very un predicta b le.

How do Wildfires spread?

Date Name Acres Burned Complexity

7/7/2004 Isla n d Sho re Fire 10.4 Un kn o wn4/25/2006 Ra zo r Fire 5.6 Un kn o wn8/29/2006 So uth Lo o p Fire 15 Un kn o wn9/2/2006 Dewa tto 2 Fire 61 Un kn o wn9/7/2006 Pipelin e 2 Fire 5 Un kn o wn7/12/2007 Shelto n Va lley Rd. Fire 13 Un kn o wn7/1/2007 Ma rtin Ro a d Fire 15 Un kn o wn9/7/2008 Ea st Cushm a n 10 Un kn o wn8/2/2009 Eels Hill Ro a d 13.2 48/25/2009 Va n c e Creek 16.3 38/15/2010 Ric hert Ro a d 84.4 38/17/2011 Eells Hill 51.2 39/11/2012 Scho o l 10.4 49/12/2012 Ca rn ey La ke 5 49/26/2012 Po werlin e 9.3 410/4/2012 Po werlin e 2 229 28/10/2014 Mill 5 21 48/11/2014 Ha ven La ke 185 29/6/2014 Bo yer Ro a d 11 411/16/2014W C 131 37 46/22/2015 K a m ilc he 5 47/31/2015 Dec kerville 107 38/27/2015 Sun n yside 58 35/27/2016 Lyn c h Pit 7.1 4

Mason County Historic Fire Events 5 Acres or Greater

Cause

Year2009 5 4 1 11 3 2 22010 3 1 1 6 4 22011 3 3 4 11 62012 10 2 3 5 5 22013 2 2 7 1 6 12014 5 1 11 142015 1 2 3 1 18 6 3 212016 1 15 6 7 2 18Total 23 10 37 3 75 1 37 10 45

Wildfire Incidents by Cause

Arson Children Debris Burning Lightning Miscellaneous* Rail-

road Recreation SmokerUndetermined

or Under Investigation Year Total Number of

Wildland FiresTotal Acres

Burned2009 26 42.92010 17 91.312011 26 55.522012 42 262.942013 18 4.442014 33 261.772015 54 183.652016 53 25.8Total 269 928.33

Total Number Wildfire Events 2009-2016

What can you do to protect your home from wildfires?

Historic FireRegime GroupsLANDFIRE, 2014

Mean FireReturn IntervalLANDFIRE, 2014

The Mea n Fire Return In terva l la yer qua n tifies the a vera ge perio db etween fires un der the presum ed histo ric a l fire regim e, its in ten tto desc rib e o n e c o m po n en t o f histo ric a l fire regim e c ha ra cteristics.As illustra ted, the a vera ge Mea n Fire Return In terva l fo r the m a jo rity o f Ma so n Co un ty is every 70-100 yea rs.

Ba rren

Fire Regim e Gro up I

Fire Regim e Gro up III

Fire Regim e Gro up IV

Fire Regim e Gro up V

Spa rsely Vegeta ted

W a ter

Sn o w/Ic e

Ma n y ec o system s a re a d a pted to histo ric a l pa ttern s o f fire. These pa ttern sa re c a lled “fire regim es,” whic h refers to the frequen c y a n d in ten sity o fn a tura l fires o c c urrin g in va rio us ec o system types. Altera tio n s o f histo ric a lfire regim es a n d vegeta tio n dyn a m ics ha ve o c c urred in m a n y la n dsc a pesin the U.S., in c ludin g Ma so n Co un ty thro ugh the c o m b in ed in fluen c e o f la n dm a n a gem en t pra ctic es, fire exc lusio n , in sect a n d disea se o utb rea ks, c lim a tec ha n ge, a n d the in va sio n o f n o n -n a tive pla n t spec ies. W ildfire a b a tem en tpra ctic es ha ve reduc ed the sprea d o f wildfires a fter ig n itio n . This ha s reduc edthe risk to b o th the ec o system a n d the urb a n po pula tio n s livin g in o r n ea rfo restla n ds, suc h a s po rtio n s o f Ma so n Co un ty.

The LANDFIRE Pro jec t pro duc es m a ps o f sim ula ted histo ric a l fire regim es a na lso pro duc es m a ps o f c urren t vegeta tio n a n d m ea surem en ts o f c urren tvegeta tio n depa rture fro m sim ula ted histo ric a l referen c e c o n ditio n s. These m a pssuppo rt fire a n d la n dsc a pe m a n a gem en t pla n n in g o utlin ed in the go a ls o f theNa tio n a l Fire Pla n , Federa l W ildla n d Fire Ma n a gem en t Po lic y, a n d the Hea lthyFo rests Resto ra tio n Act.

The histo ric a l fire regim e gro ups sim ula ted in LANDFIRE c a tego rize m ea n fire returnin terva l a n d fire severities in to five regim es defin ed in the In tera gen c y Fire Regim eCo n ditio n Cla ss Guideb o o k:•Regim e 1:0-35 yea r frequen c y, lo w to m ixed severity•Regim e II:0-35 yea r frequen c y, repla c em en t severity•Regim e III:35-200 yea r frequen c y, lo w to m ixed severity•Regim e IV:35 -200 yea r frequen c y, repla c em en t severity•Regim e V: 200+ yea r frequen c y, a n y severity

Mason County Wildfire Risk

Da te: July 8, 2017So urc es: Ma so n Co un ty GIS; LANDFIRE; W ADOT; W AOFM

Key Factors Affecting Wildfire Behavior:

– Strong, d ry w in d s prod uce extrem e fire con d ition s. Such w in d s gen erally reach peak velocities d urin g the n ight an dearly m orn in g hours. East w in d even ts can persist up to 48 hours, w ith w in d speed reachin g 60 m iles per hour. Being acoastal com m un ity, the Coun ty experien ces sign ificant w in d s on a fairly regular basis d urin g all tim es of the year.– The thun d erstorm season typically begin s in Jun e w ith w et storm s, an d turn s d ry w ith little or n o precipitation reachin gthe groun d as the season progres ses into July an d August.

Relevan t w eather con d ition s in clud e tem perature, relative hum id ity, w in d speed an d d irection,cloud cover, precipitation am oun t an d d uration, an d the stability of the atm osphere. Ofparticular im portan ce for w ild fire activity are w in d an d thun d erstorm s:

Weather:

Time of Day: A fire’s peak burn in g period generally is betw een 1 p.m . an d 6 p.m .

Topography includ es slope, elevation an d aspect. The topography of a region in fluen ces theam oun t an d m oisture of fuel; the im pact of w eather con d ition s such as tem perature an d w in d ;potential barriers to fire spread , such as highw ays an d lakes; an d elevation an d slope of lan dform s (fire spread s m ore easily uphill than d ow n hill).

Topography:

Forest Practices: In d en sely forested areas, stan d s of m ixed conifer an d hard w ood stan d s that have experien cedthin n in g or clear-cut provid e an opportun ity for rapid ly spread in g, high-inten sity fires that aresustained un til a break in fuel is en coun tered .

Lighter fuels such as grasses, leaves an d n eed les q uickly expel m oisture an d burn rapid ly, w hileheavier fuels such as tree bran ches, logs an d trun ks take longer to w arm an d ignite. Snags an dhazard trees—those that are d iseased , d yin g, or d ead —are larger but less prolific w est of theCascad es than east of the Cascad es. In 2002, about 1.8 m illion acres of the state’s 21 m illionacres of forestlan d contained trees killed or d efoliated by forest in sects an d d iseases.

Fuel:

Fires are Categorized by Fuel Type:

Crawling Surface fires that con sum e low -lyin g grass, forest litter an d d ebris.Ladder Fires that con sum e m aterial betw een low -level vegetation or forest floor d ebris an d tree can opies, such as

sm all trees, low bran ches, vin es, an d in vasive plants.

Crown Fires that con sum e low -level surface fuels, tran sition to lad d er fuels, an d also con sum e suspen d ed m aterialsat the canopy level. These fires can spread rapid ly through the top of a forest canopy, burn in g entire trees,an d can be extrem ely d an gerous (som etim es referred to as a “Firestorm ” ).

Smoldering In volves the slow com bustion of surface fuels w ithout generating flam e, spread in g slow ly an d stead ily.Sm old erin g fires can linger for d ays or w eeks after flarin g has ceased , resulting in potential largeq uan tities of fuel con sum ed . They heat the d uff an d m in eral layers, affecting the roots, seed s, an d plantstem s in the groun d . These are m ost com m on in peat bogs, but are n ot exclusive to that vegetation.