By Joan Qazi, SNCW board member and a member of the Chelan County Climate Resiliency Roundtable
Are you ready for smoke and wildfire season? We don’t like to think about it when skies are blue and the air is clear, but we all know it’s coming. Best be prepared to deal with it using the most current local information. That’s why Chelan County Climate Resiliency Roundtable is hosting a free event open to all (in English with Spanish translators) called No Community Left Behind—Firewise and Smoke Readiness Workshop. This will be at Wenatchee’s Pybus event center in-person with live streaming up to Chelan’s Fire Hall on Thursday July 13 th at 4PM to 6:30PM.
Join Sustainable NCW, CAFÉ Wenatchee, Chelan County DNR, Cascadia and others for hands-on activities at multiple booths and a series of speakers sharing information about how to prepare for, and to cope during, the upcoming smoke and wildfire season. Learn how to protect yourself from the health impacts of wildfire smoke, how to make a box fan air filter, and the best evacuation routes and safety protocols for our area. Bring your whole family to this interactive event with informational booths to help us turn climate anxiety into positive action for our community.
Along with Kent Sisson from Chelan Douglas Health District, Alma Chacon from CAFÉ Wenatchee, and Jason Reinfeld from Chelan County Emergency Management, who will help us understand the personal risks of wildfire and smoke, Joe Hill from Cascadia Conservation District will teach us about making our neighborhoods more fire resilient. Tom McCoy of C6 Forest to Farm will share the benefits of forest thinning and their biochar projects which store carbon and improve soil health.
If that’s not enticement enough to come join us on July 13th, Sustainable NCW will be giving away a number of reusable and stylish Vogmasks which filter for .3 micron particles during unhealthy air quality days! This is our new climate reality, so let’s work together so we can all adapt to it, reduce our personal and collective risks, and not leave anyone in our community behind.
