For nearly 80 years, firefighters have utilized the North Cascades Smokejumper Base to serve Eastern Washington and beyond.
For the past several years, the U.S. Forest Service has been reviewing existing facilities issues including the ‘obstacle free zone’ and current safety standards.
This summer, a group of engineering and smokejumper professionals completed a required Preliminary Project Analysis ahead of much needed, substantial facilities changes. It explored a broad range of options at locations in Yakima, Wenatchee and Winthrop. Several factors were considered, including economic impacts, fire occurrence, cost and more.