Vol2No4: Fire Alarm

We are not prepared--our leaders are failing us

Our hearts go out to all our friends in the LA area who have lost their homes to fire. Most of us have been touched in some way by this horrific event. We should learn from the lessons it holds.

We, too, live in a desert. Late summer is fire season; we all know what AQI is. Some of us leave town for that period to avoid the smoke.

We Are Not Prepared

Those of us who have been here for a while know how vulnerable we are to fire. You can look at the back side of Baldy to see how close we are to danger. Not too long ago, Ketchum was evacuated, and the fire jumped 75. Homes burned.

Have you thought about what you would do if a wind-driven fire approached your home here? Do you have a plan? How long would it take to assemble your loved ones, pets, important papers, and memories and…flee? Where would you go?

How well are we prepared for fire? Not very, in my opinion. Our government system prioritizes tourism revenue over resident safety. You just need to read Ketchum's draft of the Comprehensive Plan to understand that. More tourism, More development. More. More.

Meanwhile, the Ketchum Council has outsourced its police and fire departments, resulting in less local oversight and more time in council meetings for working on tourism growth and development.¹

We live in a water-constrained environment. In many years, the Big Wood dries up before it reaches Magic. We have a rainy season (winter) and a dry season (summer). We typically know whether it will be a drought year by the end of March.

We have both human and naturally caused fires in our area. Most start in the forest, either by lightning or by careless fire safety of campers. Sadly, we have also experienced arson. We have not had a fire caused by power lines, as we don’t typically get the wind or ice loads that cause that. But how hard would it be for a tree limb to hit a power line?

Firefighters Are Heroes

We barely have enough firefighters. The WRV has a hybrid system of paid professionals and on-call paid volunteers. As Ketchum and Sun Valley populations age and housing options become more expensive, our pool of potential firefighters is shrinking. The City of Sun Valley has built housing for its essential workers, but Ketchum has no plan to do that.

In NYC, the men and women of the Fire Department are called “New York’s Bravest.” With good reason. Firefighters risk their lives to protect our lives and property. It takes a particular mindset, one of duty and service, to become a firefighter. As children, we idolized them. Sun Valley sent a contingent to LA to help. That’s the mentality that drives Wood River’s Bravest. THANK YOU.

Ketchum Fire Consolidation—A Hidden Tax Increase

The KFD union was for consolidation. I, too, am for county-wide fire consolidation. Fire respects no boundaries, and a county-wide department should be able to obtain significant scale advantages in staffing, training, dispatching, purchasing, etc. However, the WRV elected leadership and its fire department leadership put their interests above the collective interest. The cities of Sun Valley, Hailey, and Bellevue refuse to consolidate. Consolidation has become a “third rail” of local politics.

The way Wood River, Magic, and Ketchum fire departments have consolidated is, in my opinion, terrible. The economics of it are a massive transfer from Ketchum residents to the other areas.² The City has handed over a $10mm asset paid for only by Ketchum taxpayers to the new fire district. It would be fine if the people of Ketchum were aware of the implications and voted for it fully informed. But as with so many other actions under Mayor Bradshaw, this was a backroom deal. The costs have been hidden. The City of Ketchum has used it to raise property taxes in a hidden manner. It was not done openly and transparently.

I am disappointed in the KFD’s union leadership, who misrepresented the facts in their door-knocking campaign. It has been justified as a “first step” toward county-wide consolidation, yet there are zero indications the other cities will join. It was sold on lies and misinformation.

An Accident Waiting to Happen?

We are surrounded by tinder, just waiting for the right moment to ignite a great conflagration. As my friend Diane Barker wrote in Issue #26 of The Ketchum Sun, our state fire district has some particularly peculiar forest management practices. They won’t issue a fire ban until after a fire (yes, it is unbelievable). Also, the Federal government has recently cut staffing levels in our area, making it more likely that a fire will gain force before discovery.

With fewer fire-fighting resources and more development intensity, catastrophe risk is rising.

What Do You Think?

Usually, after identifying a problem, I post recommendations for solutions. However, I will defer my thoughts to a future issue because I would prefer to hear from you.

Do you think I am correct in this narrative? What am I missing? Am I making a bonfire out of a campfire? What do you think we should be doing as a community?

I will close with one recommendation. Please help out those who have lost almost everything. Here is one way to do it: https://www.calfund.org/funds/wildfire-recovery-fund/

1. I should give credit where credit is due. After years of resisting pressure to regulate the safety of short-term rentals, the Troika put in some basic requirements a couple of years ago, including mandatory smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and having a property manager who can be on site within an hour. The STR safety standards are still short of what is required for a hotel, and we have dozens of unregistered STRs that the City refuses to bring into compliance.

2. I analyzed this (from the scanty information provided to the public) in Issue #34.