Emergency management offers weather safety tips

MOSES LAKE — With weather getting warmer, Grant County Emergency Management offers tips to stay safe this summer.

Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman explained a 5-year-old boy drowned in an irrigation canal between Prosser and Benton City in March. There are several canals throughout Grant County posing a similar threat.

“Drowning rates for all age groups are three times higher in rural areas compared to urban areas,” he explained. “Childhood drowning in rural areas often occurs in non-pool settings such as lakes, ponds and irrigation canals.”

He offers a series of tips to prevent irrigation canal drownings including instructing youth to stay away from canals, providing adult supervision of children near water bodies, wearing life vests when near a canal, teach children how to swim and have rescue equipment such as ropes and flotation devices near water bodies.

Another seasonal hazard are wild land fires, common in Grant County.

“Wildfires are an unfortunate part of the environment in Central Washington,” Foreman explained. “Grant County has already experienced several wildfires this year, much earlier than usual. This is attributed to the mild winter and early blooming of ground covering vegetation.”

He offers several safety tips to protect against wildfires including pruning trees 8 feet up from the ground, clearing an area, of about 30 feet surrounding the home, free of flammable vegetation, keep yards clean of garbage, use fire resistant roofing material, remove overhanging branches and other debris from roofs, use fire resistant house siding and screen vent openings with a quarter-inch mesh to keep hot embers out.

For more information, call 509-762-1462.