Leavenworth public-safety officials report quiet festival weekends, wildfire mutual aid and homelessness-related fire risks

Corporal Randy Lake of the Shellen County Sheriff—s Office and Deputy Chief Mike Smith of the Leavenworth fire department delivered public-safety briefings during the Oct. 28 Leavenworth City Council meeting.

Lake said September bookings totaled 882 and that October event staffing had been heavier but largely "pretty quiet," with only a few incidents tied to out-of-town visitors and festival crowds. He also described a pattern of construction-related complaints around Pine Street, with residents reporting concrete trucks and early-start pours before permitted start times.

"Construction's not supposed to start till 7," Lake said, adding that crews sometimes begin earlier to beat weather windows. He warned that mail- and routing delays can complicate timely vendor and contractor communications.

Lake and council members also discussed people living in vehicles and encampments. Lake said towing and removal are difficult because it can be hard to prove a vehicle is being used as housing, and that staff and community partners such as Upper Valley Men—s and behavioral-health teams have been "offering assistance" but that permanent placement is constrained.

Deputy Chief Mike Smith gave an extended update on fire operations and training. He said the department had deployed in mutual-aid efforts during recent wildfires, including multi-district responses to incidents near Wenatchee and other nearby canyons. Smith described conditions in which fires "blew up" beyond model predictions and said crews worked long shifts to protect structures and contain runs.

Smith reported department training and preparedness work, including vehicle extrication and evaluator training, and said firefighters recently completed fuels-reduction and community-wildfire-defense-grant work in Mary Canyon. He also said the department had responded to several large brush fires on Highway 2 and described one incident where responding crews and a concerned citizen detained a person on scene whom witnesses said had set a pile on fire.

Smith said the department has seen overtime and staffing costs rise because of extended incidents, that frontline staff below supervisory rank recently voted to unionize with IAFF Local 453, and that the department will continue working with the U.S. Forest Service and the Chelan County Sheriff—s Office on closures and enforcement in high-risk forested areas.

"We're having to handle this problem and we need to try to fix the source of the problem and get these people somewhere," Smith said, describing both public safety and humanitarian concerns.

Both Lake and Smith urged continuing interagency coordination; Smith said limited night-shift Forest Service resources and the regional scale of recent fires have at times made immediate aerial or engine support unavailable.

Ending: Council members thanked staff for the updates and asked follow-up questions about night staffing, equipment, and coordination for fuel-reduction programs ahead of the winter season.