We have been a Firewise Community since 2015.
Our mission
To reduce the risk of catastrophic fire in Pine Forest, along with the attendant risk to life, limb and property. In so doing, to honor the sacrifices of Richard Wheeler, Andrew Zajac, Tom Zbyszewski, and Daniel Lyon, the young firefighters who died or were severely injured during the initial response to the Twisp River fire in 2015, which came so close to burning into Pine Forest.
Our objectives
To become a recognized Firewise Community by assessing fire risks in and around Pine Forest and implementing an action plan to incorporate Firewise principles into our individual and community property management and maintenance and fire preparedness.
Firewise USA Certificate of Renewal 2023
Pine Forest Community Wildfire Risk Assessment November 2023
Community Firewise tasks
The Pine Forest Owners Association created a list of Firewise actions to undertake based on the recommendations of Firewise experts, or similar consultants, and/or residents' suggestions. The list notes the actions that the board selected as priorities and identifies the committee member(s) responsible for each item.
If you have additional suggestions for this list, please share them with the Firewise Committee chair, Heather Dean.
Firewise Committee members: Heather Dean, chair; Heidi Blackie, Board liaison; Lynn Lewicki, Kathleen McGregor, Rose O’Donnell, Cliff Oleszko, Jim Wurzer
What can I do as an owner?
Get your home assessed for risk
For customized recommendations, arrange for a home risk assessment with the Okanogan Conservation District or Washington Department of Natural Resources. You’ll want to be present during the assessment. Start at the house and work outward as you can.
Get an approved address sign
Having a reflective blue property address sign helps emergency personnel—and your friends and neighbors—find you. The Winthrop Firefighters Association makes and sells the signs.
Participate in the Firewise program
If you would like to participate, but have not yet signed the release form, please contact Heather Dean to get one.
Create defensible spaces
Learn how to create a defensible space around your house with the help of firewising maps that show:
Zones around a structure at 30, 100 and 200 feet.
Slopes labeled as gentle, moderate or steep, and areas uphill of a house.
Where a house’s defensible space overlaps into a neighbor’s lot or vice versa.
If you would like such a map created for your house, contact Heather Dean, chair of the Firewise Committee.
Checklists: These are to guide homeowners in recommended Firewise tasks for their home. Each checklist can be downloaded and printed.
Take other recommended Firewise actions
Familiarize yourself with the Firewise actions you can take on your property to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildland fire to your home and those of your neighbors.
Checklists: These are to guide homeowners in recommended Firewise tasks for their property. Each checklist can be downloaded and printed.
Know how to evacuate
If the entrance to Pine Forest is impassable because of fire or other emergency, the main alternative evacuation route is through the hay field at the northeast corner of Pine Forest, accessible from the Patterson Lake trailhead parking lot.
Another alternative is an upper route that starts at the trail spur at the end of Nighthawk and that leads to Thompson Ridge Road. The route is primitive, and it’s a good idea to become familiar with this route before having to take it in an emergency.
Think about how you would get out of Pine Forest if the main entrance is blocked.
Where is the fire?
“If a neighbor hadn’t driven by to say we had to evacuate, I wouldn’t have known the Twisp River fire was headed our way because I couldn’t see the fire plume.”
A Pine Forest owner who now relies on the resources listed on the Where is the Fire? page.
Forest health
The health of our community forest depends on Mother Nature and us. Community leaders have been working toward a healthier Pine Forest since the mid-1990s.