Late afternoon Wednesday, May 26, 2021, Orcas Island Fire & Rescue responded to an isolated brush fire that moved from a neighbor’s burn pile into the southeast corner of the Land Bank’s Turtleback Mountain Preserve. The fire charred approximately one acre of grass and brush before being extinguished.
“Orcas Fire was quick to respond and prevent further spread into the Preserve,” explains Orcas Preserve Steward, Peter Guillozet. “We are grateful to the firefighters and neighbors who worked to put it out. Particularly as we head into fire season, we implore people to be extremely careful. It goes without saying that the public is prohibited from having fires on Land Bank Preserves.”
The Land Bank is working to reduce fire risks through thinning of unhealthy tree stands or maintaining fire breaks among other measures. We do also hope to employ carefully managed controlled burning in the future not just to mitigate large scale fire risk but also to enhance our native savannas.