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2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan <br />Kittitas County, Washington <br /> <br /> <br />Chapter 4: Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment 191 <br />duration, putting more of the state at risk for longer periods. These changes are driven by climate change <br />and population growth and development in the WUI.246F <br />246 <br /> <br />The wildfire annualized frequency value represents the modeled frequency of wildfire hazard <br />occurrences, in event days, per year. Table 4-142 outlines the annualized frequency for wildfire, based <br />on FEMA NRI data, for Kittitas County. <br />Table 4-142. Wildfire Annualized Frequency (FEMA National Risk Index) <br />Location Events on Record <br />(2021 Dataset) Annualized Frequency <br />Kittitas County N/A 1.12% chance per year <br />Annualized frequency is defined as the expected frequency or probability of a hazard occurrence per year. <br />4.6.9.5. Past Events <br />NCEI has reported 22 wildfire events, listed Table 4-143, between 1950 and 2023 in Kittitas County. <br />Notably the Taylor Bridge Fire in August 2012 near the City of Cle Elum which burned a total of 23,500 <br />acres of timber and grass. The fire was ignited by construction workers welding on the Taylor Bridge on <br />Highway 10. The wildfire destroyed 61 homes and multiple outbuildings, and affected utility infrastructure <br />(e.g., irrigation) and resulted in property damage totaled $8.3 Million.247F <br />247, <br />248F <br />248 <br /> <br />10 fire disaster declarations have been issued for Kittitas County between 1953 and 2023. <br />Table 4-143. Wildfire Events (1950 – 2023) <br />Location <br />County / <br />Zone State Date Time Type Death Injury <br />Property <br />Damage <br />Crop <br />Damage <br />EAST SLOPES <br />OF THE <br />WASHINGTON <br />CASCADES <br />East Slopes of <br />the <br />Washington <br />Cascades <br />WA 9/1/2018 00:00 Wildfire 0 0 0.00K 0.00K <br />EAST SLOPES <br />OF THE <br />WASHINGTON <br />CASCADES <br />East Slopes of <br />the <br />Washington <br />Cascades <br />WA 8/1/2018 00:00 Wildfire 0 0 0.00K 0.00K <br />EAST SLOPES <br />OF THE <br />WASHINGTON <br />CASCADES <br />East Slopes of <br />the <br />Washington <br />Cascades <br />WA 7/30/2018 09:00 Wildfire 0 0 0.00K 0.00K <br />KITTITAS VALLEY <br />(ZONE) <br />Kittitas Valley <br />(Zone) WA 7/19/2018 11:00 Wildfire 0 0 0.00K 0.00K <br />KITTITAS VALLEY <br />(ZONE) <br />Kittitas Valley <br />(Zone) WA 7/9/2018 22:49 Wildfire 0 0 0.00K 0.00K <br />EAST SLOPES <br />OF THE <br />WASHINGTON <br />CASCADES <br />East Slopes of <br />the <br />Washington <br />Cascades <br />WA 10/1/2017 00:00 Wildfire 0 0 0.00K 0.00K <br />EAST SLOPES <br />OF THE <br />WASHINGTON <br />CASCADES <br />East Slopes of <br />the <br />Washington <br />Cascades <br />WA 9/1/2017 00:00 Wildfire 0 0 0.00K 0.00K <br /> <br />246 Washington State Emergency Management Division. (2023). Washington State Enhanced Hazard Mitigation <br />Plan. Retrieved from https://mil.wa.gov/asset/651ec296d76a9/2023_WA_SEHMP_final_20231004.pdf . <br />247 Hobbs, R. and Berglund, C. (2017). Between Two Fires: Lessons Learned in Kittitas County. Retrieved from <br />https://fireadaptednetwork.org/between-two-fires-lessons-learned-in-kittitas-county/. <br />248 National Weather Service. (n.d.). Storm Events Database. Retrieved from <br />https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=406863.