Firewise Community Newsletter - September 2024
 

September 2024, V4

Firewise Community Sign

Now that we are officially a Firewise USA community, a nationally recognized site, we have our signs displayed at both entrances of the LRAA for neighborhood recognition.

SAVE THE DATE!
Community Chipping "Air Care" Event and FREE Soft Organic Material Dumpster Days

We heard your feedback from the Spring Chipping Event and it’s back on the schedule! 
Through the Okanogan Conservation District and the LRAA Firewise Committee partnership, an industrial chipper is being provided for LRAA on October 7th, 2024, and a soft organic material dumpster from October 4th - 10th, 2024.

• Chipping Day Details:
Get your yard work done and build piles by the side of the road/driveway for easy access. For chipping, logs/branches must be no longer than 6.5 feet and no wider than 12 inches. They also must be natural woody material, no lumber or treated wood. Additional instructions are in the sign-up form. Please READ to ensure you are staging correctly. There is now no requirement for homeowners to be home to have chipping completed. Just have yard waste ready and staged by 8 AM on the morning of October 7th.

• Soft Organic Material Dumpster Days Details: 
Only soft organic materials can be accepted, including pine needles, leaves, grass, weeds, or other non-woody material. Things not accepted are tree branches, firewood, stumps, lumber, or other woody material. WasteWise says no to any bags, plastic or paper. They need ALL material to be loose in the dumpster, in order to properly steam and treat it. Bring your soft organic materials to the dumpster in a bag(s), dump it into the dumpster and take your bag(s) home.

The dumpster will be located on Meek Road at the LRAA Fire Hall October 4th - 10th

MICROGRANT UPDATE
We were awarded another $4,000 Firewise USA Micro grant this spring that is allowing us to spread gravel around the pump house so it stays clear and accessible in case of a fire. A work party will be coordinated soon if you are interested in helping!

GOOD REMINDERS AS WE CONTINUE TO FIREWISE OUR NEIGHBORHOOD

  • Pick up/rake all flammable vegetation (dead branches, brush, stumps, logs) on your property.

  • Trim your trees lower limbs 15’ up off the ground

  • Trim tree branches within 15’ within a chimney or stovepipe

  • Trees close to your home are a risk, consider creating a 30’ defensible space around your home without trees.

  • Order blue reflective address signs so emergency vehicles can locate you quickly.

  • Now is a great time to do a chimney sweep after a COLD winter! This should be done every 1-2 years to prevent chimney fires in the spring and fall that could easily spread.

  • Please share how many hours you have put into making your property more fire resilient. We get to use these hours towards our Lost River Airport Firewise community hours. These hours give us access to neighborhood micro-grants and free programs, such as the chipping day in October. If two or more people worked, than add everyone hours separately so we record all total hours. Please email all your hours to LRAA.business@gmail.com

FREE MONEY FOR DOING FIRE MITIGATION WORK ON YOUR PROPERTY

We are now Firewise Certified Site and the benefit to becoming a Firewise neighborhood is we have an opportunity to receive funding to help make our neighborhood safe from fire from your individual contributions. And you as property owners can earn money doing the mitigation work. See the program details at https://www.dnr.wa.gov/cost-share.

Please note that nothing will ever be done to private property without the consent from the owner. It is your personal choice to participate.

Also you can schedule a FREE IN PERSON FIREWISE HOME ASSESSMENTS with Okanogan Conservation District and Department of Natural Resources. To schedule an assessment, email Eli Loftis at eli@okanogancd.org.

HOW TO STAY INFORMED ON FIRES & SMOKE IN THE AREA
Firewise resources for the upcoming summer…
If you’d like to stay informed on when fires are near us and evacuation levels you can sign up for Okanogan County alerts. It’s great to know whether you’re a part-time or full-time resident. Links can also be found on the LRAA Home page.

Okanogan County Emergency Management

WA Smoke - Smoke tracking

AirNow - Air Quality Monitor App

Purple Air - Air Quality Monitor App (There’s a Purple Air monitor at LRAA.)

Inciweb - Up to date fire reports

National Interagency Fire Center - Fire tracking map

Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Facebook

From Your LRAA Firewise Committee

 
Lost River Airport Association
ALERT! Okanogan County Burn Restriction Effective June 15, 2024
 


A Burn Restriction will be in effect from June 15, 2024 at 12:01 AM (midnight) through October 15, 2024 at 12:01 AM (midnight). Questions? Please visit the Okanogan County Emergency Management page.

 
 

The County Commissioners implement BURN RESTRICTIONS and BURN BANS during times of high fire danger. Okanogan County uses a two-step system for restricting outdoor burning:

• The BURN RESTRICTION allows recreational fires and NO OTHER OUTDOOR BURNING.
The Burn Restriction is activated by a set date (June 15 to October 15), but may be implemented earlier or extended due to conditions. The Burn Restriction prohibits ALL field/pile/rubbish/rule/slash/yard vegetation and non-emergent agricultural burning on private lands within the unincorporated areas of Okanogan County, reducing the risk of wildfires. Recreational Fires are ALLOWED during a burn restriction if used for pleasure, religious, ceremonial, cooking, warmth, or similar purposes and the fuel being burned is other than rubbish. Fires used for debris disposal purposes are NOT considered recreational fires. (See Recreational Fire definition below.)

• A BURN BAN prohibits ALL OUTDOOR BURNING, including recreational fires and the use of charcoal.
A Burn Ban is implemented when High Fire Conditions exist and will revert to a Burn Restriction when rescinded. A Burn Ban prohibits ALL outdoor burning of combustible materials which may include, but are not limited to yard vegetation or waste, non-emergency agricultural burning, exploding gun targets, and bullet tracer rounds. Propane fire pits are ALLOWED during a burn ban. Propane flames cannot be larger than 3 feet wide and 2 feet in height and not burned within 25 feet of a structure or combustible material. (DNR burning restrictions may apply to your private property if you are assessed a DNR Fire Control tax. This can be found on your county tax statement.)

• • • Recreational Fire Definition • • •
Recreational fires shall be contained in a concrete, rock, or steel ring (made from non-combustible material), no larger than 3 feet in diameter and no less than 8 inches in height. The fire (flames) shall be no higher than 2 feet and not conducted within 25 feet of a structure or combustible material. Recreational fires SHALL be attended to at all times.

The Fire Advisory Committee consisting of representatives from the BOCC, DNR, Emergency Management, Fire Chiefs, Forest Service, and the Sheriff’s Office make recommendations to the Commissioners on implementing a burn restriction or burn ban. When a burn restriction/ban in place it will be posted on the Emergency Management webpage at: https://www.okanogancounty.org/government/emergency_management

 
Lost River Airport Association
Water Use Committee Recommendations & Member Usage Data
 

At the annual HOA meeting in May 2023, there was considerable discussion dedicated to water use and water conservation issues in Lost River. The discussion concluded with the creation of a water use committee. The committee was charged with researching and recommending to the LRAA Board appropriate water conservation measures generally and to specifically identify what level of water use is excessive and warrants additional usage cost.

Read more about these recommendations on our new Member Water Usage page and see how much water you’ve used in the past year.

 
Lost River Airport Association
Firewise Community Newsletter - May 2024
 

May 2024, V3

Lost River is now a FIREWISE® Certified Site! Congratulations to our entire community. We will be throwing a party this coming fall to celebrate. LRAA is also featured in the recent publication of Methow Homes 2024 on page 10.

To view, paste URL into your browser: https://issuu.com/methowvalleypublishing/docs/mh24_forissuu_sm

SAVE THE DATE! Community Chipping "Air Care" Event

Through the Okanogan Conservation District and the LRAA Firewise Committee partnership, an industrial chipper is being provided for LRAA on May 13th. Sign up today!

Get your yard work done and build piles by the side of the road/driveway for easy access. From what we understand there is now no requirement for homeowners to be home to have chipping completed. Just have yard waste ready and staged. For details, read the chipping event flyer linked below or visit the registration page.

View/download Chipping Event Flyer [pdf]
Register for the Event →

GOOD REMINDERS AS WE APPROACH THE FIRE SEASON

  • During the fire burn ban, if anyone has an illegal fire going, please call the sheriff immediately.

  • Removing the wood piles from your porch and under the porch will help protect your entire home from burning down. Remember ALL buildings need to be protected, not just houses.

  • Pick up/rake all flammable vegetation (dead branches, brush, stumps, logs) on your property.

  • Sign up for the chipping event on May 13th!

  • Trim your trees lower limbs 15’ up off the ground

  • Trim tree branches within 15’ within a chimney or stovepipe

  • Trees close to your home are a risk, consider creating a 30’ defensible space around your home without trees.

  • Order blue reflective address signs so emergency vehicles can locate you quickly.

  • Now is a great time to do a chimney sweep after a COLD winter! This should be done every 1-2 years to prevent chimney fires in the spring and fall that could easily spread.

  • Please share how many hours you have put into making your property more fire resilient. We get to use these hours towards our Lost River Airport Firewise community hours. These hours give us access to neighborhood micro-grants and free programs, such as the chipping day in May. If two or more people worked, than add everyone hours separately so we record all total hours. Please email all your hours to LRAA.business@gmail.com

FREE MONEY FOR DOING FIRE MITIGATION WORK ON YOUR PROPERTY

We are now Firewise Certified Site and the benefit to becoming a Firewise neighborhood is we have an opportunity to receive funding to help make our neighborhood safe from fire from your individual contributions. And you as property owners can earn money doing the mitigation work. See the program details at https://www.dnr.wa.gov/cost-share.

Please note that nothing will ever be done to private property without the consent from the owner. It is your personal choice to participate.

Also you can schedule a FREE IN PERSON FIREWISE HOME ASSESSMENTS with Okanogan Conservation District and Department of Natural Resources. To schedule an assessment, email Eli Loftis at eli@okanogancd.org.

HOW TO STAY INFORMED ON FIRES & SMOKE IN THE AREA
Firewise resources for the upcoming summer…
If you’d like to stay informed on when fires are near us and evacuation levels you can sign up for Okanogan County alerts. It’s great to know whether you’re a part-time or full-time resident. Links can also be found on the LRAA Home page.

Okanogan County Emergency Management

WA Smoke - Smoke tracking

AirNow - Air Quality Monitor App

Purple Air - Air Quality Monitor App (There’s a Purple Air monitor at LRAA.)

Inciweb - Up to date fire reports (May be temporarily offline for maintenance.)

National Interagency Fire Center - Fire tracking map

Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Facebook

From Your LRAA Firewise Committee

 
Lost River Airport Association