Months before the wildland fire season begins, EM Richland Operations Office contractor Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS) conducts fire prevention efforts on the Hanford Site, getting equipment ready and reducing the potential severity of any wildfires.
These fire prevention methods helped keep the most recent fire season to a minimum, with just 12 acres burned in 2022 and no damage to facilities or disruption of EM’s cleanup mission.
Lightning causes most of the fires on the 580-square-mile site, so to prepare for fire season, Hanford Fire Department (HFD) schedules yearly training sessions coordinating fire response with heavy-machinery operators and with Hanford Emergency Operations Center command support staff and liaisons.
“Hanford firefighters receive training on a wide range of emergencies to protect Hanford workers and facilities,” said Brian Harkins, EM assistant manager for Mission Support. “The Hanford firefighters are an outstanding group of individuals who do a great job protecting the site so the cleanup mission can continue.”
Throughout the winter, as conditions safely allow, firefighters schedule planned burns of tumbleweeds and excess brush to slow the spread of a wildfire. Most recently, HFD disposed of nearly 68,000 cubic yards of such vegetation — enough to fill more than three football fields.
Risk-reduction efforts also include wrapping the bottoms of utility poles with fireproofing material to prevent pole loss and unplanned outages in the event of a wildfire. Crews stay up to date on tactics and strategies for fighting fires by walking sections of the site, using wildland maps and aerial images. They also create lengthy fire barriers along site roads to minimize the spread of a wildland fire.
The HMIS fleet services organization coordinates with HFD annually to prepare all wildland fire vehicles to ensure an effective response during the fire season. Hanford Fire also provides mutual aid support to other local emergency responders, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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