Low turnout for fire prevention event, but organizers say kickoff is only beginning

The Firewise kickoff event Saturday for the McCormick area left organizers very pleased with the number of people who came out to support educating the public, but they were left disappointed — though still hopeful for the future — by the public response.

Organizer Conny Buegge sent out 174 mailers to people in the community, but only received about 20 back, she said.

Most of the people who did come by were new to the area and knew about the event at the Curley Creek Community Center by seeing signs volunteers had posted around the area.

For R. Jones and a friend who came with him, the reason for attending was obvious, they said.

Primarily, they wanted to make certain they are doing everything they can to protect themselves and their neighbors from fire-related disaster.

But beyond that, they wanted to know what they could do to help their community if disaster occurs.

Ultimately, it’s everybody’s responsibility, they agreed.

The event had a variety of resources on hand and people with a wealth of knowledge and experience, such as Lincoln County Forester Ed Levert — who will retire at the end of the month after over a decade with the county.

Prior to his time with the county, Levert was a district ranger with the U.S. Forest Service.

“I’ve been dealing with fire all my life,” he said.

Fire preparedness is something that affects more than just the landowner who does it, Levert said. If some people are taking care of reducing the potential risks of fire and some people aren’t, both the prepared and unprepared could share the burden for those who did not.

“To make it really effective, you need to have everybody participate,” he said.

Still, with the wide expanse of land in an area such as the Yaak, Levert said that protecting personal property may just come down to making the area closest to home as safe as possible from fire. Even the little things can make a big difference.

“At least they can make sure that they don’t have wood stacked up against the house, the vents are closed, they’ve done those kinds of things,” he said.

Even with a home that is in no way under immediate threat from a fire, a vent that hasn’t been closed off with screening can lead to disaster, Levert said. Just one ember blown in from a forest fire can get into a closed spot through the vent, and by the time a homeowner knows their house is burning, it’s too late to save it.

There were other resources at the event as well. Logan Sandman came from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and had information on programs the department offers to help landowners create a management plan for their own property based on the kinds of data and observation the DNRC uses to manage state property.

DaWain Burgess from the Lincoln County FireSafe Council showed up with a trailer and a large selection of materials on resources available and steps property owners can take.

Trevor Pelling, chief at McCormick Volunteer Fire District has another reason property owners should look to avoiding fire rather than expecting volunteers and insurance companies to bail them out if everything goes wrong.

As an all-volunteer department, McCormick is already short staffed, he said.

In addition, a fire the department doesn’t have to respond to is a fire where the volunteers aren’t put at risk.

Alan Osborn with the U.S. Forest Service was there to talk with residents about their responsibilities as property owners and what resources the forest service makes available.

He said that events such as the kickoff are important, as they help to make sure prevention is a coordinated effort across the community.

In addition, being able to show coordinated effort where government agencies and property owners work in a way that compliments one another can lead to grant money that wouldn’t otherwise be available, he said.

The next step is to submit a McCormick plan to the National Fire Protection Association, Buegge said. Beyond that, she expects the organizing committee to meet within the next month or so.

More information about the Firewise program can be found at nfpa.org.

Residents can also find more information on fire prevention and ongoing local efforts at the Lincoln County FireSafe Council’s website, lcfiresafe.org.