SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane fire fighters responded to multiple spot fires off High Drive Sunday, but fire experts report that the bluff poses potential fire risks.
The bluff has many trees per acre, including junipers and arborvitaes, which are both highly flammable shrubbery.
The Spokane Fire Department (SFD), in partnership with the Spokane parks department, is working on a forest health thinning project.
Nick Jefferies, the Wildland Resource Planner for SFD told NonStop Local that they’ve currently covered 85 acres around the south end of the bluff.
“We did another about 55 [acres] above the golf course… We’re hoping to start tying that in. There’s 6-800 acres of treatable area. And so, we’ve done about 140 acres of that. Our target this fall, winter [and] spring is another 3- 500 acres. And I would say a timeline for this type of work is going to be three to five years. But our hope is that it’s done earlier, depending on the funding sources that we have to get this project done,” Jefferies said.
