Wildfire Preparedness
Preparing Your Home for Wildfire Season
One of the most basic tips for wildfire preparation is creating defensible space around your home—thinning or removing trees and brush and picking up pine needles, grasses, and finer fuels.
Homeowners should focus on three home ignition zones: Immediate Zone (the home itself and 0-5 ft), Intermediate Zone (5-30 feet), and the Extended Zone (30-100 feet).
While full-scale tree (brush) thinning or removal might not need to be done on an annual basis, pine needles, grasses and finer fuels need to be addressed at least once if not twice a year.
Ready, Set, Go! – Evacuation Information
When an emergency occurs, do you know when to stay and when to go? The Pend Oreille County Department of Emergency Management has prepared a comprehensive disaster response plan to deal with emergencies. To help Emergency Management in the event of an emergency, it is important you and your family know what the evacuation level terms mean and know how to react. REMEMBER, the best way to prepare for a disaster is: Prepare your Home, Make a Kit, Have a Plan, and Be Informed.
LEVEL 1 (GET READY) - A Level 1 Evacuation means Get Ready. Residents should be alert and aware of the danger that exists in their area and monitor local media outlets for information. Residents with special needs (such as a susceptibility to breathing problems in wildfires or those with animals/pets) should take note and begin making arrangements to evacuate. For wildfires, smoke can often cause the most problems for residents, especially those sensitive to smoke. Evacuations at this time are voluntary.
LEVEL 2 (GET SET) - A Level 2 Evacuation means Get Set. This level indicates there is significant danger to your area, and residents should either voluntarily relocate to a shelter or with family/friends outside of the affected area, or if choosing to remain, be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice.
LEVEL 3 (GO!) - A Level 3 Evacuation means Go. Danger to your area is current or imminent, and you should leave immediately. Listen to local media and watch for emergency personnel who may be coming by to give further instructions regarding the evacuation. During evacuations, the American Red Cross will establish shelters at schools, churches, or community buildings in our area in safe zones. Above all, remain calm. Preparing your home in advance for disaster, having a kit, making a plan, and remaining informed means you can make informed and calculated decisions for your family, and you know your escape routes in advance.
Click here for weather alerts from the National Weather Service - Spokane.
Wildfire Prevention in the PUD Electric System
Fire-Safe Mode
"Fire-Safe" mode is a crucial operating mode that the PUD uses to help prevent wildland fires in our county.
Each summer our line crews and system operators complete the process of placing most of our distribution breakers and reclosers in "Fire-Safe" mode or “Non-Reclose” mode to help prevent fires due to faults on our system. The term fire-safe or non-reclose means we reduce the number of times our reclosers operate from three to one. Because there is a chance that sparks are created each time a fault occurs on a line, reducing the number of operations reduces the chance of fire.
For example, when a fault occurs such as a tree falling into a line, the breaker, which is a safety mechanism, shuts the power off. In normal operations, the breaker waits for a fixed amount of time and turns the power back on. If the tree is still in the line, the breaker shuts the power off again, waits the fixed amount of time, and turns back on. If the tree is still there on the third attempt, it is considered a permanent fault and the power remains off. At this point, we will call out a line crew to remove the tree and restore power to our customers.
A fault could also occur when a limb falls into the line. The same operation happens, except that there is a strong possibility that the limb falls off of the line after the first fault. In normal operations, power would remain on after the second attempt because the breaker no longer detected a fault and customers would only see a very short (several second) power outage. In fire-safe mode, however, the power stays off after the first fault to decrease the chance that additional sparks may be created by turning the power back on. The result is that power outages are more likely, but the threat of wildland fire is reduced.
Managing Trees & Brush
We have an in-house tree crew that follows a vegetation management cycle in an effort to keep trees and brush away from power lines throughout our service territory. For more on this topic and how you can help, please visit: Right Tree, Right Place & Tree Safety
Strengthening Our System
We work to strengthen our power system and mitigate fire risk by investing in upgraded equipment. Most recently we are working to change out our hydraulic reclosers and replace them with electronic reclosers. This allows for better monitoring and coordination of the system.