The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly passed a resolution requesting prioritization and completion of a fire fuel break which protects fire adapted communities of the central and western Kenai Peninsula. The intention is to minimize the wildfire risk, a responsibility shared among landowners from across the Kenai Peninsula regardless of land size. Fire fuel breaks have been identified as essential safety infrastructure to help protect communities from wildland fires. They also assist in containing the spread of fire to large areas of fire fuels.
Assemblyman Jesse Bjorkman, “This resolution really draws attention to and seeks to educate people on what fire adaptive communities are and the importance of fire fuel breaks that separate our communities and infrastructure here on the western and central Kenai Peninsula from large areas of hazardous fire fuels that occur on national wildlife refuge lands as well as other lands that are not in our communities. It’s really important that people understand the role of fire fuel breaks and containing wildland fires as well as personal responsibility to make sure that folks are firewising their properties and homes in this kind of an idea of a one-two punch of fighting and being prepared for wildland fires.”
Resolution 2021-036 was brought forward to raise awareness of the need for fire fuel breaks, to support and encourage land managers in their work to mitigate hazard fire fuels through fuel breaks, and to recognize all stakeholders for continuing their cooperative work on the Sterling Fuel Break Extension.
Fire fuel breaks and mechanical forest treatments have been effective at protecting the Kenai Peninsula communities from the Funny River Fire in 2014, Card Street Fire in 2015 and the Swan Lake Fire in 2019.
