NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — After the fire mitigation presentation to the county commission, each commissioner had different areas of the multifaceted problem that they saw as important to giving firefighters a better chance to fight the fires that occur.
"We need to start allowing houses to be developed on larger pieces of property rather than smaller pieces of property, which is discussed in this document," said commissioner Ron Sellers. "How those are developed, I think, has some meaning to me. I think that could be researched and better developed by the planning department and planning commission than us, maybe."
The issue is that some landowners won't abide by regulations, no matter how they are written and also that areas around Pretty Prairie and Turon and Buhler all have different terrain.
"One of the things that has made us unsuccessful in the past is that we have county wide policy," said commissioner Daniel Friesen. "There may need to be some more granular application of restrictions in areas of high risk. I think it was identified here that we have different risk zones."
According to the 2009 Kansas Forest Service report cited in the mitigation agenda documents, here are the risks found back then:
Low hazard rated communities:
1. South Hutchinson and the developed areas nearby.
2. Buhler
3. Haven
4. Pretty Prairie—it is noted in the report that if the surrounding fuel loads gain intensity, then a problem could be created.
5. Turon—it is noted that if the area of hardwood timber on the south end of town accumulates a large amount of dead trees or limbs, it could be a threat in years to come.
6. Sylvia
7. Abbyville
8. Partridge
9. Yoder
10. Willowbrook
Moderate hazard rated communities:
1. Medora
2. Pony Acres community
3. Caselton
4. Langdon
5. Plevna
6. Nickerson
7. Arlington
High hazard rated communities:
1. East of Kent Road, South of 4th street
2. 4th street from Obee to Mayfield
3. 30th street near Sand Dunes Drive
4. Prairie Dunes area
5. Woodlands community
6. 30th and Inverness area
7. Blue Spruce
8. Rolling Hills
9. Highlands
Data from USDA-NRCS shows that Reno County is losing a battle against woody plant encroachment, causing high fire danger in additional areas over the intervening years.
Friesen asked Weishaar to get together with the Forest Service to try to get an updated map as they prepare to set policy. It was also suggested that the county could hire an outside person to educate the public about the risk associated with their home. Friesen was in support of that idea.
"We need an outside party to do that," Friesen said. "If you can get with stakeholders to bring that back to us, there would be interest in considering approval of a classification of high risk properties in the county."
There was also consensus to edit the county's 2017 burn resolution.
"It sounded like we had consensus on adding some teeth to some of the individuals that are not acting in good faith on fire management issues," Friesen said.
An example given in the supporting documents was a situation on 56th and Plum where the fire department responded to a controlled burn that was out of control. The homeowner was told not to burn unless she got more people. As soon as the fire department left, the homeowner asked the neighbor to help her. The fire got away again and the fire department was called. The homeowner did not violate the resolution because the fire department does not have the authority under the 2017 resolution to tell someone not to burn, even if their controlled burn has already been out of control once that day.