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

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Marian Meadows Rezone and Subdivision Final Environmental Impact Statement 3-148 hydrants with adequate fire flow will increase the potential for effective response to fire incidents, depending on the availability of adequate fire flow and the placement of hydrants. Additional water storage is essential for adequate fire flow north of I-90. Addition of adequate fire storage, if included as part of this development, would increase the effectiveness of fire control for all properties north of I-90 served by the Easton Water District’s hydrants. The modern construction codes the new buildings will comply with would result in a slightly lower fire risk than older buildings within the district. The proposed lot size and separation between buildings will add to the risk of fire spreading to adjacent buildings as compared to rural large lot development, but will be about the same or less than existing small lot development in the fire district, such as the Easton Village Subdivision southwest of the site. The major factor in fire risk to property and persons within the proposed development is the ability of the fire district to respond to fires and suppress them. The provision for fire detection in the proposal would be largely by residents or neighbors. Tenure options with larger components of seasonal residents may increase detection times depending on proximity of occupied homes as well as whether residents are home full time. Dispatch by Kittcom, the county-wide 911 system, is comparable to most dispatch services. The status of the Easton Fire District as an all-volunteer force has the potential to increase deployment of fire fighters to a scene. Such deployment depends on the presence of volunteers in proximity, the time required for them to get a call, time that may be required to safely cease the activities they are engaged in, report to the station, prepare equipment, leave the station and travel to the site. The response time also can be adversely affected by weather, including snow on the ground, impedance from traffic, and possible blockage from accidents on roads or the lack of access over essential facilities such as bridges. The Marian Meadows site layout is provided with two public roadway accesses, but depends on Sparks Road as its only source of public road access to I-90 and the Easton townsite. If the access along Sparks Road is blocked, there is no access to the site. The most significant potential barrier is the bridge over Silver Creek. If that bridge is blocked, alternative access is available during summer through the Easton State Airport to Silver Creek Road, which has an additional bridge over Silver Creek. Access involving fording Silver Creek may be available in low flow periods by driving north on the Kachess Dam Road and down informal roads on the BPA transmission line easement. These routes would add considerable time and would be impassable over a substantial part of the year when snow would make them impassable. Additional access from Sparks Road farther to the east may be provided over a private parcel; however, this access provides no potential for alternative routes over Silver Creek as does the access from Country Road. On the site, the upper eastern portion of the site could be rendered impassable by snowstorms that could take several days for the roads to be cleared.