Libby Firewise Community earns national recognition for wildfire preparedness
by Libby Rural Fire Department
September 29, 2010
Because of its efforts to reduce the vulnerability of homes and landscapes to wildfire, Libby and the surrounding area has earned Firewise Communities/USA recognition from the National Firewise Communities Program.
Doug Turman, Unit Fire Supervisor for the Libby Unit of the Montana DNRC stated, "With the City of Libby joining the Firewise program it allows the homeowners, business and fire suppression agencies to come together and work to reduce the threat of a wildland fire and develop safety measures to protect people and property from a wildland fire".
According to Ed Levert, Lincoln County Forester, "we have made progress over the past 7 years through education and fuel reduction projects around homes, but we still have a long way to go. The Firewise Community program is intended to help the community reach a high level of fire preparedness and keep it that way through citizen involvement and land management agency participation. The Libby Firewise Community plan was developed by the Lincoln County Firesafe Council and I consider it a work in progress."
Steve Lauer, assistant chief of Libby Rural Fire Department, said that "Obtaining and maintaining the firewise community’s status means having commitment from all cooperative agencies and citizens to promote awareness and to take proactive steps towards establishing safer working conditions for emergency responders in the event of a wildfire."
The Libby Firewise Community is the third community in Lincoln County to be recognized as Firewise Communities/USA, joining many other communities nationwide that have been recognized since the program’s inception in 2002. The other recognized Firewise Communities in the county are Em Kayan Village and Chain of Lakes.
To receive Firewise Communities/USA recognition, the Libby Firewise Community met a rigorous set of requirements. The community completed the following activities:
These activities included
• Completing an assessment of the fire risk within the community.
• Provided firewise assessments within the community and grant funding for fuel reduction around homes.
• Conducting numerous informational meetings and tours in the community to educate citizens to our wildfire risk.
• Agreement by the Libby City Council, Libby RFD, Lincoln County, Cabinet View RFD, DNRC, USFS, Plum Creek Timber Co. and members of the Lincoln County Firesafe Council to become a Firewise community.
• Coordination with state and federal agencies to reduce fuel hazards adjacent to the community.
"Achieving Firewise recognition is not a quick or easy process. The Libby Firewise Community has done an outstanding job of creating a local Firewise Task Force and implementing Firewise principles," said Jim Smalley, manager of the Firewise Communities program. "By preparing homes, structures, and landscapes before a wildfire occurs, the Libby Firewise Community has dramatically increased the chance that homes and structures will be protected when a wildfire occurs."
To become involved in the Libby Firewise Community, you are invited to attend the Lincoln County Firesafe Council meetings normally held the fourth Thursday of the month at 9AM at the Libby Rural Fire Department. For information on the meetings, call Ed Levert at 406-293-2847.
Working through the National Association of State Foresters (NASF), state forestry agencies support the Firewise Communities/USA recognition effort. The program is a nationwide initiative that recognizes communities for taking action to protect people and properties from the risk of fire in the wildland/urban interface. This program is of special interest to small communities and neighborhood associations that are willing to mitigate against wildfire by adopting and implementing programs tailored to their needs. The communities create the programs themselves with cooperative assistance from state forestry agencies and local fire staff.
Communities interested in earning recognition may visit www.firewise.org/usa for more information.
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