OPINION: You can help make Anchorage safer from wildfires

I thank the Anchorage Daily News editorial board for sounding the alarm about Anchorage’s wildfire problem (”Sooner or later, Anchorage’s wildfire luck will run out”). The fire hazard on the Anchorage Hillside, coupled with the volume of homes and infrastructure there, constitutes one of the highest risks facing our community. Risk exposure mapping recently completed by Dr. Jen Schmidt with the University of Alaska’s Institute of Social and Economic Research suggests that what happened in Lahaina, Hawaii, could happen here (and nearly did in 2016) — an intense wind-driven fire advancing downhill consuming many homes and taking many lives. The risk is exacerbated by the very real possibility that state wildfire-fighting resources, which are already stretched thin, may be committed to fighting fires elsewhere in the state.

Thankfully, we have begun addressing our wildfire risk through a multi-pronged approach, funded largely by $4 million in congressionally directed spending secured by Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Our approach involves several strategies, including fuels reduction and treatments, evacuation planning, public information and education, and training and equipment for Anchorage’s firefighting force.

Fuels reduction and treatment efforts have been underway on public lands and are continuing. Homeowners can do their part by making their homes “Firewise,” which involves removing or replacing hazardous fuels and taking other steps to make homes more resilient to a wildfire. Homeowners can schedule a free onsite consultation at the AFD website (www.muni.org/fire).

We are preparing to rewrite our Community Wildfire Protection Plan, which will focus our evacuation and mitigation planning efforts where they will be most effective. The plan was last updated before the Anchorage Wildfire Mitigation Office closed in 2008.

In conjunction with Chugach Electric Association, we are now conducting a test pilot in which we are electronically monitoring select areas of the Anchorage Hillside for indications of an incipient wildfire. There are 25 detection devices mounted on utility towers monitoring heat, humidity and indications of smoke and will automatically alert Fire Dispatch and CEA of an emerging fire. By the end of July, there will be 30 devices installed. Each device covers approximately one-half acre.

Meanwhile, Anchorage’s firefighters have been trained and equipped and are ready to respond to reports of wildfires.

Two tools are available to help residents to be informed of reported fires and to be notified of emergency instructions. PulsePoint Respond is a free app that will automatically notify users of emergencies reported in their vicinity (pulsepoint.org). Additionally, residents can opt in to receive instructions and information from the Office of Emergency Management and AFD at www.muni.org/OEM.

We are immensely grateful for the public’s attentiveness to fire safety, which has helped us to avoid disaster. Please continue to monitor fire danger and safety guidelines, posted daily during the fire season at www.muni.org.

Doug Schrage serves as fire chief of the Anchorage Fire Department.

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