News Bites for June 20, 2023

OTHELLO — Caring Neighbors, a nonprofit established by Big Bend Energy Cooperative, donated $2,375 to Adams County Fire District 5 on Thursday, according to an announcement from ACFD 5. The money will help to fund the replacement of older extrication tools, the announcement said.

OLYMPIA – In the coming months, Washington state will face an elevated risk of wildfires, the Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office wrote in a statement Thursday, citing a report completed by Challenge Seattle, an alliance of CEOs from 22 of the region’s largest employers. The report showed that 4.6 million acres have burned in Washington since 2015, the statement said, an area the size of King and Snohomish counties combined.

In the statement, the SFMO asked for the public’s help in preventing mega-wildfires by:

• Responsibly starting, managing and extinguishing campfires and debris burns

• Safely using outdoor equipment that can cause a spark

• Complying with burn bans

• Removing flammable items within 5 feet of a home

• Putting screens on vents

• Building home fire resiliency by removing dry leaves and debris, and cutting back large tree limbs up to a minimum of 10 feet away from homes

• Creating smoke readiness and evacuation plans

The full report can be found at http://bit.ly/3Czsiu3.