STEHEKIN, Wash. — Nick Davis’s mail and groceries arrive by boat after traversing a 50-mile-long lake that snakes through the mountains like a freshwater fjord.
His electricity comes from a microgrid powered by creek water. His phone and his internet run on a satellite connection. And while there is regular ferry service to Stehekin, there is no road out of here.
But Davis and many of his neighbors have chosen to stay, and some intend to fight the fire themselves.
“This is our home,” Davis said Thursday, standing in front of his dockside office, where he manages reservations for tourists visiting the area. “You have to protect the things that you love and that you care about.”
Part of the risk assessment calculation when choosing to live that far away from the grid of civilization is that in an emergency it may be a long time before help comes. And if one is far enough maybe help never comes.
2 comments
STEHEKIN, Wash. — Nick Davis’s mail and groceries arrive by boat after traversing a 50-mile-long lake that snakes through the mountains like a freshwater fjord.
His electricity comes from a microgrid powered by creek water. His phone and his internet run on a satellite connection. And while there is regular ferry service to Stehekin, there is no road out of here.
This isolation is part of the appeal of living in the wilderness at the far northern tip of Lake Chelan, among the foothills of the [North Cascades.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/11/04/grizzly-bears-north-cascades/?itid=lk_inline_manual_3) But it has also added to the anxiety of Davis’s predawn ritual, as he wakes before 4 a.m. each morning and now photographs the progress of the slow-moving [wildfire](https://washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/06/24/extreme-wildfires-increased-study/?itid=lk_inline_manual_3) that is bearing down on his hometown.
The [Pioneer Fire](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2024/07/24/smoke-wildfires-air-quality/a2de8e00-4a0a-11ef-9149-c75da5dd9201_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_5) started nearly two months ago and at that time it was 10 miles from Stehekin. Now it’s only a mile and a half away, after burning through more than 33,000 acres. A week ago, authorities issued a Level 3 evacuation order for the roughly 100 people who live in Stehekin, instructing them to “go now.” Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee (D) urged residents to leave [in a video message](https://x.com/GovInslee/status/1817659103357161857) this week, saying that “their presence make it much more difficult for our firefighters to fight the fire.”
But Davis and many of his neighbors have chosen to stay, and some intend to fight the fire themselves.
“This is our home,” Davis said Thursday, standing in front of his dockside office, where he manages reservations for tourists visiting the area. “You have to protect the things that you love and that you care about.”
Read more here: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/08/03/pioneer-fire-stehekin-washington/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/08/03/pioneer-fire-stehekin-washington/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com)
Part of the risk assessment calculation when choosing to live that far away from the grid of civilization is that in an emergency it may be a long time before help comes. And if one is far enough maybe help never comes.