PD-17-00001 Marian Meadows Full Record with Index (2)

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Marian Meadows Rezone and Subdivision Final Environmental Impact Statement 3-143 Within Kittitas County, the Okanogan/Wenatchee Ranger District is responsible for fire protection of National Forest lands. Through cooperative agreements with agencies, such as DNR, service districts assist other agencies and jurisdictions with wildland fire protection and suppression. Fire protection assistance to county rural fire protection districts is requested from the U.S. Forest Service through DNR. 2 What mandates or standards for fire protection service have been established? Kittitas County has adopted the following polices: GPO 2.109G Kittitas County will consider creating a wildfire protection policy tied to land use zoning that will protect both the private landowner and public lands from wildfire. When the use of forested lands is changed, the party doing the changing is responsible for providing a fire- resistant buffer around the property. GPO 2.139 Kittitas County will encourage rural developments in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) and the owners of adjacent commercial forest lands to develop Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs). The emergency medical response standard adopted in the Kittitas County Emergency Medical Services Standards for Fire District No. 3 is 20 minutes within a 5-mile radius of its station. The standard for Hospital District No. 2 to respond to the Easton area, which is about 17 miles from its station, is 45 minutes or less (KCEMS 2006). According to the local fire chief, actual response times to the area north of I-90 are in the 8- to 12-minute range (McCaw 2008). There are a variety of measures of fire protection effectiveness in a community. The factors discussed below are based on a model developed by the Center for Public Safety Excellence, Inc. (CPSE 2006) and includes the following: Fire Risk The characteristics of an individual community will affect the level of fire risk to protect against. For example, older buildings pose a different set of problems than new buildings built to modern construction codes. Commercial and industrial occupancies pose additional factors to be considered. Construction, occupancy type, water supply, exposure between buildings, modern furniture and furnishings, and the risks which the combination of these factors pose to the occupants constitute the fire risk component. An additional critical factor in determining the level of fire risk to protect against is the assessment of consequences. Fires result in deaths, personal injuries, and property loss, including damage to the environment. Additional factors, such as the historical value of certain properties and the tax assessment value of property in the community, are also considered. In many cases, the loss of a particular occupancy in a community, such as a major employer or a public facility such as a school, has an adverse impact on the local economy or community values.