Flick Creek fire helps shift views in Stehekin

STEHEKIN, Wash. – For generations, residents of this remote hamlet in central Washington’s Cascade Range have worked to preserve its rural woodsy character, while promoting it as a scenic tourist getaway.

Nestled among towering evergreens at the northern end of 55-mile-long Lake Chelan, Stehekin is reachable only by boat, float plane or overland trail. The village is surrounded by wilderness area, national park and U.S. Forest Service land, and with no telephone service, offers an escape from day-to-day life.

Even Washington’s governor called it “no-man’s land.”

But dating to its days as a mining and trapping enclave, the close-knit community has chosen to take care of its own. They balk at National Park Service control of the surrounding area. They bluster at any proposed development, including a small businessman’s efforts to bring telephones to town. For years, the 100-or-so residents even resisted entreaties by the state to create a fire department, labeling the idea an unnecessary bureaucracy.

The first sign of change may have arrived. Prompted by a wildfire that has haunted the town for seven weeks, residents have agreed to at least consider the possibility of creating a local fire district and will vote on the issue this fall.

“It’s a very positive step, recognition that to one degree or another, they’re responsible for their own properties when it comes to fire,” said Public Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland, who oversees the state Department of Natural Resources. “State and federal agencies are willing to help when it’s beyond their control, but they have to make their best effort first.”

Therein lies the rub: State and federal agencies have no authority to protect structures on private land, and they generally don’t step in until a local fire department has exhausted its resources and asks for help.

In the rural West, that usually means a fire district, and in Washington state, Stehekin is the only community with a significant number of structures that still hasn’t created one.

When a campfire ignited the Flick Creek fire on the east shore of Lake Chelan on July 26, the blaze almost immediately began threatening the town. Gov. Chris Gregoire visited residents days later, promising to step in with state resources to help but at the same time urged residents to help themselves.

Perhaps the bigger shock to Stehekin residents was learning that more resources may have been available to fight the fire early on if a fire district were already in place.

Local fire districts often share resources with one another, and with state and federal crews, when wildfires break out.

“Mutual aid is very, very common throughout the country, where one department or district turns to another for help,” said Roger Ferris, executive secretary of the Washington Fire Commissioners Association and a volunteer for the fledgling National Association of Elected Fire Officials, which has members from five Western states.

“But that is because you have two fire departments that both have fire equipment,” Ferris said. “You have to have a department in order to provide mutual aid. It’s a bit one-sided otherwise.”

Randall Dinwiddie, owner of Silver Bay Inn, said he tried to start a fire district three years ago, but no one had any interest.

Dinwiddie carries insurance to cover his losses from tourism – three of four rooms sat empty thanks to the fire – but said the town has never dealt with a threat quite like this.

“It’s unfortunate that we lose the money, but it’s also unfortunate that people who plan their vacations can’t get here,” he said. “I support the fire district 100 percent.”

The busy fire year also meant state and federal resources weren’t as readily available to bail out the town. More than once, fire managers lost crews and helicopters to other wildfires threatening communities across the West just when they thought they were close to containing this one.

That left some fiery residents critical of efforts to douse it.

At a recent community meeting, longtime resident Cliff Courtney had some “pointed questions” for fire managers. Courtney, whose family was among Stehekin’s founders, operates Stehekin Valley Ranch and has suffered losses of about $3,000 per day since a mandatory evacuation of the boat landing went into effect.

Everyone could stand to gain by learning about what mistakes were made, if any, and what should be changed in the future, he said. Courtney also conceded that he has been slow to accept the idea of a fire district, but circumstances have changed his mind.

“I feel we have enough bureaucracy if it isn’t effective,” Courtney said, tugging on his cowboy hat. “But understanding how resources are triggered changed my mind.”

At a second public meeting, Courtney even urged his neighbors to support the district – a challenge backed by Bill Paleck, superintendent of North Cascades National Park.

“I can tell you without a doubt in my mind that there would have been additional resources available to you if you had had a fire district,” he said. “You’d also be part of a community of fire districts across the state. Some guys from other fire districts are here because they care about Stehekin. They don’t have to be.”

The Flick Creek fire isn’t the first blaze to erupt in the area. The 1994 Boulder Creek fire north of Stehekin worried residents for a time, and in 2001, the Rex Creek fire burned more than 53,000 acres on Lake Chelan’s eastern shore, just south of where the current fire is now burning.

Now, the only area that hasn’t burned at the lake’s northeast corner is the village itself, according to historical fire maps. Whether that will be enough enticement to approve and build the district remains to be seen.

“Once they create the fire district, then they’ve got to create the infrastructure for it. Who’s going to operate it? Is there going to be any kind of equipment and, if so, who’s going to operate it?” Sutherland asked. “If they create a fire district and they have no firefighters and they have no equipment, what has been improved, other than that they can ask somebody else to come in and suppress any fires?

“The question is whether they actually follow through with this plan, or if they say, ‘OK, we have a fire district, come help us the next time a fire comes through.’ “