The Kenai City Council recently passed a resolution adopting the updated 2022 Kenai Peninsula Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The city is vulnerable to damage from wildland fire events that pose a threat to the public health and safety and could result in property loss and economic hardship of individuals, business owners, as well as damage to critical infrastructure.
The city participated as one of the 17 communities along with the Division of Forestry and the Department of Natural Resources to develop a Community Wildfire Protection Plan encompassing all lands within the Kenai Peninsula Borough. The 2022 plan addresses three goals of collaboration, prioritized fuel reduction, and treatment of structural ignitability, and provides recommended projects designed to greatly reduce wildfire risk to residents, and provides guidance to fire and emergency managers, as well as agencies who manage large land holdings.
Council Member Teea Winger said:
“I’m excited to see this come forward from administration, talking about the wildfire hazards and the spruce bark beetle issue that we see in our community has been a high priority of mine since I took this council seat a year and a half ago. One part of this that I am really happy to see is the slash disposal site. I’ve been very much advocating for that. I’m glad to see that we’re hiring a position to make that happen and with the costs of fuel going over $5 a gallon, this will make sure that we’re not going to be seeing slash and dead trees dumped all throughout our city. I’m excited to see the slash pile part of the plan to come forward and really just would like to encourage the community to get out and do a fire buffer to their properties.”
According to Fire Chief Tony Prior, several items he includes are based on wildland firefighting concerns and recommendations specific to the city of Kenai:
- Kenai River Delta (Kenai Area CWPP, 2006)
- Treed gullies (Kenai Area CWPP, 2006)
- Hilly terrain (Kenai Area CWPP, 2006)
- ROW – north end of city (along Spur Road) (Kenai Area CWPP, 2006)
- Historic portion of town (Kenai Area CWPP, 2006)
- Areas behind Sears Elementary and Mtn View Elementary (Kenai Area CWPP, 2006)
- Auk Subdivision (Kenai Area CWPP, 2006)
- Beaver Creek Drainage (Kenai Area CWPP, 2006)
- State land north of the Spur Highway (Kenai Area CWPP, 2006)
He included recommended mitigation efforts, which includes supporting individual property owners making properties firewise, making escape route a priority for North Kenai (could include paving), and creating fire breaks using mechanized approaches.
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