Page 20 - WCA December Ketch Pen 2020

20
Response to Labor Day Wildfires
By: Representative Tom Dent and Senator Judy Warnick
After a fairly quiet summer in rural Eastern Washington with no fires, bad weather or riots, Labor Day landed in a big way! The Labor Day windstorm was unlike any weather phenomenon that could be considered anywhere close
to normal. Fires were raging and because of the wind we lost our first line of defense, our aerial attack fleet. The wind was too much for our SEATs (Single Engine Air Tankers) to handle. As the wind kicked into high gear, we witnessed dry forests, recently harvested wheat fields and grasslands susceptible to downed power lines and stray “illegal” campfires erupt into raging infernos. According to one report, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was involved in at least 50 fires that week consuming over 600,000 acres. Those 50 fires were matched by several more that were handled by small fire districts and private individuals who were able to stop them without DNR help. The wind also caused many roads to be closed due to blowing dust and smoke and traffic came to a halt with several major accidents. In other words, it became a wild week for everyone in Eastern Washington. As the wind subsided the smoke then became an issue with the lack
of visibility now the reason we were not able to fly, the excessive smoke becoming a major health issue for many people and the severely curtailed visibility limiting the ability of the ranchers to even assess the damage or find their livestock.
Since that awful day with the loss of homes, outbuildings, loss of livestock and thousands of acres
of pasture and grazing land gone, the ranching/farming community across the state stepped up and begin to donate hay and other feed to those in need. The outpouring of support was absolutely incredible. Beginning with a simple phone call requesting any type of feed donation turned into folks from all over the state stepping up to help those in need. The question was how can I help? What do you need, from hay to supplements and sometimes just cash from those who didn’t have the feed to give, truckers stepping up and getting the products delivered where they were needed. More impressive is the number of people who stepped up from other areas offering loads of hay to those who lost their pastures and winter hay. Retailers have donated feed and given discounts on fencing materials. Many trucks could even be seen coming from the West side of the
Cascades loaded with hay and feed. We’ve seen more cattle on pastures in the Columbia Basin earlier than normal due to people stepping up to offer pastures and harvested fields for grazing.
The community of ranchers and cattlemen have come together to help each other recover their losses while looking to educate elected representatives and government agencies of their needs moving forward.
Loading hay in Okanogan
The Stockland Livestock Auction facility was the site
for two very impressive meetings attended by cattlemen, firefighters and state agency representatives. The first gathering was just days into the disaster – many who attended came directly from the fire lines. Many stories were shared of heroic efforts to stop the fires and attempts to save livestock by getting water to the stranded animals. While there was strong evidence of coordination among fire fighters from DNR, local departments and even outside the region, due to the size of the storm, there just simply wasn’t enough resources to go around. California and Oregon were also on fire during that time.
We have worked with both federal and state departments since that first meeting to find financial help to rebuild.
Ketch Pen www.washingtoncattlemen.org
December 2020