Mike Bucy, Fire Chief at Stevens County Fire Protection District #1, was a recent guest speaker at the Deer Park Rotary Club. Chief Bucy shared a little about what has been going on in the district, as well as some tips to be safe during fire season.

• District #1 serves Southern Stevens County and covers
the communities of Clayton, Deer Lake, Ford, Loon
Lake, Suncrest, Tum Tum, Williams Valley, and
Springdale.
• The district is staffed by a combination of paid and
volunteer personnel.
• They responded to 1,400 calls in 2017, up from 1100
in 2013.
• As many as 70% of the calls they received were a
result of accidents, with a majority of them being
ATV related.

Since Fire District #1 is largely rural-wildland and includes private forestland, Chief Bucy is very proud of a special wildland truck that they built themselves at a fraction of the cost to buy a similar new one . He also expressed pride in the new Fire Stations at Loon Lake and Suncrest.
Along with their on the job duties, the firefighters work with kids, train military, and provide other community services.
Chief Bucy finished up the speaking engagement by answering questions and sharing important advice on how to protect our homes from wildfires. The most important point was to create a defensible space around your home. That means at least 30 feet of green space between your home and a tree stand or significant foliage. Another advisement was to evacuate when instructed, be prepared with important items to take with you, and have a plan for evacuating your family, pets, and livestock.
Chief Bucy also talked about fire prevention by obeying the rules regarding when it is safe to burn and when it is not, having water and the proper tools on site when you do burn, and making sure the fire is completely extinguished. To find out what burn bans are active in your county to go to waburnbans.net
For more information about being prepared to evacuate, go to www.Ready.gov/Wildfires